Surgical Mesh Legal News Articles & Interviews

Atlanta, GA Judge Richard W. Story has now identified ten bellwether Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits that will likely shape the multidistrict litigation pending in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia. Trials in these hernia mesh lawsuits are now scheduled to begin in April 2020. But there will be plenty to watch even before opening statements begin.

Philadelphia, PA On May 17, a jury returned an $80 million verdict for Patricia and George Mesigian in their surgical mesh lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon. The award included $50 million in punitive damages and a record-setting $30 million in compensatory damages.

Philadelphia, PA: The FDA has finally ordered the last two medical device companies selling transvaginal mesh products to pull them from the market. The agency said it is “committed to patient safety” but hundreds of thousands of women –victims of surgical mesh--would disagree. And the lawsuits are still pouring in.

Tallahassee, FL: Shirley had abdominal mesh implanted following the resection of colon cancer. That was in 2008 and she has been in debilitating pain ever since. And taking Oxycodone to numb the crippling abdominal pain not only resulted in an addiction to opioids; she had to give up her job as a federal prison officer. Wait, it gets worse: her surgeon said all the mesh cannot be removed because it has eroded into her bowel.

Charleston, WV As the nation’s largest mass tort product liability lawsuit winds to a close, those who have suffered from surgical mesh complications and their attorneys are pausing to take stock. Not everyone is happy.

Atlanta, GA: Plaintiff Sharon Smith would be understandably buoyed by news that the surgical mesh lawsuit file currently housed in multi-district litigation in Georgia is moving forward, with the first bellwether trials expected for September of next year. While nearly 500 lawsuits are currently housed in the MDL, a continuing barrage of cases have lead observers to believe that thousands of lawsuits could wind up in the MDL by the time bellwether cases begin in 18 months’ time.

Raleigh, NC: Daniel complained to his surgeon time and again about pain and swelling from his abdominal surgical mesh used to repair a hernia back in 2015, but he was told it was simply the "healing process" and that "time would heal". But how long does the healing take? In Daniel's case, time was not on his side.

Los Angeles, CA: The Johnson & Johnson Ethicon surgical mesh lawsuits just keep on coming. On January 19, 2018, Sharon Smith filed a new Hernia Mesh lawsuit in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Atlanta, GA: It’s one thing for a medical device to result in unwanted side effects and adverse events. However, that frustration is further exacerbated when the medical device thought to be at the root of newfound pain and suffering, has failed to do its intended job in the first place. Thus, the original implantation was all for naught. That’s the claim made by a recent surgical mesh lawsuit involving the now-recalled Ethicon Physiomesh filed last week in Idaho.

Atlanta, GA As the Ethicon Physiomesh hernia patch lawsuits start to go to trial in January 2018, all eyes will be on the fate of two competing arguments. Plaintiffs in the cases centralized as In RE: Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation will argue that the mesh was defectively designed. Defendants, Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon, will argue that patients’ severe organ damage was caused by something else. Early bellwether trials are always important because they give an indication of the strength of the cases and the likelihood and probable size of a settlement offer. The particular future for these surgical mesh lawsuit plaintiffs hangs on which version of reality the court finds more compelling.