Pelvic Mesh Defect Litigation on the Rise

Missouri Lawyers Weekly
December  3, 2011

The litigation over pelvic mesh devices is separate from another well-known series of lawsuits over Kugel mesh, a similar product used to repair abdominal hernias. Many manufacturers make both abdominal and pelvic meshes.

Plaintiffs in approximately 3,600 suits alleged that the hernia patches that contained a plastic ring could buckle or break off inside patients, leading to internal injuries and even death in some cases. Bard issued three separate recalls of the product.

Earlier this year, Kugel mesh maker C.R. Bard settled 2,600 of the suits for a total of $184.3 million, according to the company’s July filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  The settlement followed two trials in Rhode Island federal courts in 2010. The first trial ended in a defense verdict, but the second garnered a $1.5 million jury verdict.

Potts, who had approximately 500 of the cases involved in this year’s global settlement, said he couldn’t discuss the specific results of his cases.

The pending multidistrict litigation in the Southern District of West Virginia is In re: Avaulta Pelvic Support Systems Products Liability Litigation, MDL-2187.

Reporter Scott Lauck of Missouri Lawyers Media contributed to this article. Read the full article by visiting and subscribing to Missouri Lawyers Weekly.