Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuits Move Forward, as Federal Litigations Prep for 2014 Bellwether Trials, Bernstein Liebhard LLP Reports
New York, New York (PRWEB) December 27, 2013 -- The new year is likely to be an important one for thousands of women around the country who are currently plaintiffs in transvaginal mesh lawsuits (http://www.vaginalmeshlawsuit2015.com/), Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports. According to court documents, a number of bellwether trials are scheduled to get underway in 2014 in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia, where vaginal mesh lawsuits filed against American Medical Systems, Inc. (MDL No. 2325), Boston Scientific Corp. (MDL No. 2326), C.R. Bard, Inc. (MDL No. 2187) and Ethicon, Inc. (MDL No. 2327) and other manufacturers have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings.
“All of these trials will mark important milestones in the federal proceedings, and will likely provide important clues as to how juries might weigh claims in similar transvaginal mesh lawsuits,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. Firm partner, Jeffrey S. Grand, is a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committees in the federal proceedings involving American Medical Systems, Boston Scientific, C.R. Bard and Ethicon. Bernstein Liebhard LLP continues to offer free legal evaluations to women who allegedly suffered mesh erosion, pain, scarring, infection and other serious vaginal mesh complications following the implantation of pelvic mesh to treat pelvic organ prolapse or stress urinary incontinence.
Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuits
According to court documents, more than 40,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits have been filed in the proceedings underway in the Southern District of West Virginia. The first federal bellwether trial of 2014 is scheduled to begin on January 10th in the C.R. Bard litigation. (Jones v. C. R. Bard, Inc. 2:11-cv-00114) Court filings show that the proceeding’s very first bellwether trial, which also involved a C.R. Bard product, concluded in August, with the jury awarding $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the plaintiff. (Cisson v. C.R. Bard Inc., 11-cv-00195)
Documents filed in the Southern District of West Virginia indicate that the first federal bellwether trial of an Ethicon vaginal mesh lawsuits is scheduled to begin on February 10, 2014. (Lewis, et al. v. Johnson & Johnson, et al.) That will be followed by a second Ethicon trial in June. While no Ethicon transvaginal mesh lawsuits have yet been heard by a jury in the federal proceeding, court documents show that one case has gone to trial in a multicounty litigation currently underway in New Jersey’s Atlantic County Superior Court. That trail ended in March with an award of more than $11 million to the plaintiff. In addition to his work on the federal vaginal mesh litigations, Mr. Grand is serving as Co-Liaison Counsel in the state Ethicon litigation, and was a member of the Plaintiff’s trial team. (In re: Pelvic Mesh/Gynecare Litigation, No. 6341-10) Mr. Grand is also serving as Co-Liaison Counsel in a second proceeding underway in Atlantic County Superior Court for lawsuits filed against C.R. Bard. (In re: Pelvic Mesh Litigation/Bard, No. L-6339-10)
On March 10th, 2014, the first federal trial of a vaginal mesh lawsuit naming Boston Scientific as a defendant will get underway in the Southern District of West Virginia, according to court records. (Fawcett, et al. v. Boston Scientific Corp., 2:12-cv-07497) The federal litigation’s second Boston Scientific trial is slated to start in July.
According to court documents, a vaginal mesh lawsuit filed against American Medical Systems is scheduled to go trial in the federal litigation underway in the Southern District of West Virginia on April 7, 2014. (Serrano v. AMS, Inc., et al. 2:12-cv-03719) That litigation’s second bellwether case will go before a jury on May 5, 2014.
Court records indicate that the litigation surrounding transvaginal mesh got underway shortly after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued a 2008 Public Health Alert revealing that it had received 1,000 reports of serious injuries associated with vaginal mesh products over a three year period. In July 2011, the FDA warned that the number of injuries reported in relation to transvaginal prolapse repair had grown three-fold since its prior alert. Most significantly, the rise in these types of vaginal mesh complications prompted the FDA to modify its previous stance that such injuries were rare.
Alleged victims of vaginal mesh complications may be entitled to compensation for their medical bills, pain and suffering, and other injuries. Learn More about the litigation involving transvaginal mesh at Bernstein Liebhard LLP’s website, or visit the Firm’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/meshlawsuit. To arrange for a free vaginal mesh lawsuit consultation, please call 800-511-5092.
About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993, including those who have been harmed by dangerous drugs, defective medical devices and consumer products. The firm has been named by The National Law Journal to the “Plaintiffs’ Hot List,” recognizing the top plaintiffs’ firms in the country, for the past 11 consecutive years.
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ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. © 2013 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, 800-511-5092. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.
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Contact Information:
Felecia L. Stern, Esq.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP
info(at)consumerinjurylawyers(dot)com
http://www.vaginalmeshlawsuit2015.com/
https://plus.google.com/115936073311125306742?rel=author
Felecia L. Stern, Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuit Information Center, http://www.vaginalmeshlawsuit2015.com/, +1 800-511-5092, [email protected]
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