C.R. Bard Inc. has agreed to settle a second woman’s claim that its vaginal mesh implants caused her injuries, as the trial was about to begin in federal court in West Virginia. The terms of her suit weren’t disclosed.
Wanda Queen of North Carolina suffered pain and was forced to undergo six surgeries as a result of the trans-vaginal mesh implant she received.
Scott Lowry, a Bard spokesman, said the settlement covered only Queen’s claims and was not part of a larger resolution of thousands of others that are pending.
“This is a large, complex litigation and Bard will consider each case based on the facts and merits,” Lowry said in an e-mailed statement. “We will continue to vigorously defend against all other lawsuits involving Avaulta.”
In the first lawsuit, a federal jury awarded $2 million in damages to a Georgia woman for injuries she suffered from an Avaulta Plus trans-vaginal mesh device manufactured by C. R. Bard Inc. This was the first case tried in the huge federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) pending against Bard. (There was a separate trans-vaginal mesh lawsuit heard in a California state court last summer, which led to a multi-million dollar verdict).
A jury awarded Donna Cisson $250,000 in compensatory damages and $1.75 million in punitive damages. Cisson’s lawsuit accused company officials of knowingly using a plastic resin in their product which was unfit for permanent implantation.
Based in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Bard faces more than 8,000 claims over Avaulta, which women allege can cause organ damage and make sexual intercourse painful when the devices erode. Johnson & Johnson, Endo Health Solutions Inc., and Boston Scientific Corp. face similar claims that their implants, threaded in place through vaginal incisions, shrink over time.
The implant cases against Bard and other manufacturers have been consolidated before U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin in Charleston for pretrial information exchanges. Two other trials are set for October, according to court dockets.
In addition to the 4,300 cases pending against C.R. Bard, there are five other MDL’s against other trans-vaginal mesh product manufacturers, more than 29,000 cases in all, according to a press release.
We will continue to bring you updates as they become available. For more information, contact one of our Gacovino Lake attorneys at 1-800-246-HURT (4878). Feel free to comment on this blogpost.
