U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. in the Southern District of Ohio has denied Bard’s summary judgement motion which clears the way for all Bard hernia mesh lawsuits to move forward to trial. The Judge’s ruling ensures the second in a series of bellwether trials to go before a jury early next year in January 2022.
C.R. Bard currently faces more than 8,000 product liability lawsuits brought throughout the federal court system, each involving similar allegations that the company sold dangerous and defective polypropylene hernia repair products in recent years, including Bard Ventralex, Bard Ventralight, Bard Perfix, Bard 3DMax and other mesh systems, which failed and caused plaintiffs to require additional surgery to remove the mesh from their body.
While the bellwether trials have no binding effect on the other hernia mesh cases, the bellwether trial outcome will give both sides indications of how a potential jury will perceive evidence and to what extent it will hold the medical device maker liable for so many injuries.
Additionally, the closer Bard comes to actual trial dates, the more pressure they face to settle the mesh cases rather than risk huge settlements from jury verdicts. Surviving summary judgment motions, lawyers for those injured by the mesh are confident that the science is on their side and that they will be able to provide clear and convincing evidence that Bard was not interested in the public interest or public safety.
