A jury has awarded $500,000 to Maine resident Aaron Stinson after C.R. Bard’s third bellwether trial came to a close in an Ohio federal court on November 8, 2023. The plaintiff claimed he was injured because C.R. Bard and its subsidiary, the Davol Company, failed to warn their customers about the health risks associated with one of their hernia mesh products, the PerFix Plug.
The jury agreed with three of Stinson’s five claims: that C.R. Bard was negligent, failed to warn about the risks, and was strictly liable for not warning about the risks. However, the jury did not agree that the design of the PerFix Plug was defective or that C.R. Bard was negligent about the alleged design defect.
The PerFix Plug hasn’t been recalled by the FDA, but it has been involved in many lawsuits. The problem with the PerFix Plug and many other hernia mesh products is the plastic they’re made from, called polypropylene. While this plastic is safe and non-toxic, it can shrink, move around inside the body, and break down over time. This can cause serious health problems after hernia surgery, like infections, pain, and damage to organs.
The future of the hernia mesh lawsuit
C.R. Bard and its subsidiary, the Davol Company, have now lost all three of the bellwether trials for the hernia mesh lawsuit thus far. The companies are likely to appeal the recent $500,000 verdict, similar to how they’ve handled their previous losses in court. A fourth bellwether trial against the two merged companies is expected to begin in January 2024.
The recent verdict is just one of many cases involved in the hernia mesh lawsuit, which is divided into four active multidistrict litigations (MDLs). Of the four active MDLs that comprise the hernia mesh lawsuit, the C.R. Bard MDL is by far the largest, with over 20,000 open cases. Across all four MDLs—C.R. Bard, Atrium, Covidien, and Ethicon—there are currently over 25,000 pending cases waiting to be settled.
The hernia mesh lawsuit has been proceeding nicely for plaintiffs so far, and many more are expected to join the lawsuit in 2024. If you or an immediate family member received a defective hernia mesh implant and had to go back to your doctor for a follow-up revision surgery to resolve medical complications, see if you qualify to join the lawsuit.