Hernia Mesh Bellwether Date Set

By MedTruth Editors

The U.S. District Court Judge in charge of a hernia mesh multidistrict litigation (MDL) has approved a proposal from plaintiffs that would prepare a number of cases for bellwether trials as early as January 2025. This would be a significant step towards resolving the hundreds of hernia mesh claims made in the federal court system.

Plaintiffs in this specific hernia mesh MDL allege that Covidien designed defective hernia meshes that caused pain and debilitating, sometimes life-altering complications after implantation. The meshes were made of a type of plastic known as polypropylene and were sold under a variety of brand names, including Covidien Parietex and Covidien Symbotex.

Hernia mesh is a device made from artificial or natural materials intended to patch a hole in abdominal tissue. The material is designed to prevent infection or tearing while the body naturally heals around it. 

To account for the more than 600 lawsuits filed in the federal court, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation assigned sufficiently similar cases to be consolidated in Massachusetts under the authority of U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris. By centralizing these cases, plaintiffs are able to pool resources to more effectively conduct pretrial discovery and expert witness review, and defendants are spared from having to go through multiple, identical discovery processes where the same facts are subpoenaed and the same witnesses deposed. 

By approving the plaintiffs’ motions for bellwether trials, Judge Saris is signaling that she believes the appropriate time for discovery processes like Daubert hearings and depositions may be coming to a close and both sides should begin finalizing their best points to bring to trial. The next steps in the MDL are scheduling orders, debating how many cases should be prepared for bellwether trials, and which cases should be tried first.

If you or a loved one have been harmed by hernia mesh or any other defective device, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Contact MedTruth today for a free, no-obligation case review and begin your journey to justice.