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Settlement Discussion on Mesh Device News

Mesh Device News Stories

Mesh Trials Ahead with No Prospect of Settling
Apr 18, 2017 | Mesh Device News
By Jane Akre

Mesh Medical Device News Desk (MND), April 18, 2017~Protracted transvaginal mesh (TVM) litigation has many law firms moving onto the next attractive Mass Tort and clearing out their inventory.
J&J Settles Third Round of Pelvic Mesh Cases
Mar 28, 2017 | Mesh Device News
By Jane Akre

Mesh Medical Device News Desk, March 28, 2017 ~ J&J (Johnson & Johnson) has been the last company to come to the settlement table, but an unopposed motion announces a third settlement for an unknown number of pelvic mesh women,
J&J Offers Second Major Settlement to Pelvic Mesh Injured Women
Sep 9, 2016 | Mesh Device News
By Jane Akre

Mesh Medical Device News Desk, September 9, 2016~ Healthcare giant offers second settlement to resolve pelvic mesh injury cases. Undisclosed Settlement is approved by multidistrict litigation judge.
Johnson & Johnson Offers First Transvaginal Mesh Settlement $120 Million
Jan 27, 2016 | Mesh Device News
By Jane Akre

Mesh News Desk, January 27, 2016 ~ Bloomberg News (here) reports Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $120 million to settle thousands of injury lawsuits filed by women implanted with the company’s transvaginal mesh.
Settlement Dollars are Slow in Coming in Transvaginal Mesh Claims
Nov 5, 2015 | Mesh Device News
By Jane Akre

MND, Nov. 5, 2015~ Your editor recently sat down at the Mass Torts Made Perfect session on multidistrict litigation (MDL) to hear the latest on the settlements purported to be in the works concerning transvaginal mesh. Attorney Henry Garrard told the crowd that four of five mesh manufacturers are in the settlement mode.
Judge Goodwin Calls for Pelvic Mesh Settlements as Lawyers Gather in WV
Feb 5, 2015 | Mesh Device News
By Jane Akre

Judge Joseph Goodwin has a problem. With more than 72,000 federal cases filed in his court, consolidated in multidistrict litigation (MDL), he knows there is not enough time for these plaintiffs to ever see justice.

Mesh Device News Stories

Mesh Trials Ahead with No Prospect of Settling

Apr 18, 2017 | Mesh Device News

By Jane Akre

Mesh Medical Device News Desk (MND), April 18, 2017~Protracted transvaginal mesh (TVM) litigation has many law firms moving onto the next attractive Mass Tort and clearing out their inventory.
What remains when the dust settles?
The online add for the publisher Harris Martin promises an upcoming legal education conference on hernia mesh, Benicar, Xarelto, testosterone drugs, and Bair Hugger – all the latest, shiniest Mass Torts that promise to deliver litigation lightning while reducing risk to the bottom line of plaintiffs’ law firm. Plaintiffs should make something too.
Meanwhile transvaginal mesh litigation, with about 150,000 U.S. plaintiffs, and thousands others overseas, lingers with the largest mesh makers the longest holdouts to the settlement table.
That was supposed to be the aim of the multidistrict litigation (MDL) where the bulk of transvaginal mesh cases, filed against seven manufacturers, are consolidated.
Try a few cases, see which way juries will decide and have that serve as a basis to approach some reasonable settlements in these defective product cases. But that hasn’t happened.
“The primary strategy by Ethicon and by C.R. Bard is to basically say you need money more than we do, you have no prospect unless you take what we offer now, and that’s offensive to me,” says New Jersey attorney Adam Slater.
He is based near the Bergen County court where transvaginal mesh cases will be heard in succession beginning at the end of this year and into next.
Slater says he is insulted by the offers.
“I won’t sit at a table with anyone who says that to me. They have to be reasonable, and what they’ve done is very serious, or else I will continue to prepare to ultimately get reasonable offers for my clients.”
Mazie Slater is one of the law firms still taking transvaginal mesh cases filed by women who claim a lifetime of injuries from the polypropylene implants used to treat incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
Slater says he doesn’t see an end to the litigation and adds, “I’m not going to stop.”
Here is a MND story on law firms that remain in TVM litigation.
TRIALS AHEAD
For the remaining trial lawyers, litigating pelvic mesh cases will continue for years.
The next trial for C.R. Bard is in Bergen County, New Jersey by October 30th, and possibly sooner.
Slater says he is in full scale litigation against Bard with no prospects for settlement.
“Bard said you will never get to trial. I said “Watch me.””
Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas has 190 transvaginal mesh cases in line to be tried against defendants Boston Scientific and Ethicon/ Johnson & Johnson. Currently the Engleman v. Ethicon trial is underway.
April 18th, a Pelvic Mesh Meeting was scheduled.
**Update 11 new cases were set for trial as a result of yesterday’s meeting. All but two name Ethicon/ J&J, the other two name Boston Scientific as a defendant. See the schedule here.
In Philadelphia, six cases against Ethicon have a trial date certain. One naming Defendant Boston Scientific is set for March 2018. See the Pelvic Mesh Case list here.
Ethicon/ Johnson & Johnson, has proven to be a holdout, offering a smattering of settlements, particularly on individual cases just before trial. Instead, it quietly took its most troubling meshes off the market.
Boston Scientific too has proven to be tough defendant to bring to the negotiating table.
Mostyn Law is planning a trial against Boston Scientific to be heard in Los Angeles Superior Court, July 31, 2017. Six plaintiffs’s cases may be heard among the possible 247 filed. See JCCP 4733 here.
Another Ethicon/ Johnson & Johnson case is set for trial in Bergen Co. November 27, 2017 with a November 13th date set for jury selection.
Slater says his position with Ethicon is the same – No Prospect of Settling!
“I’m aware of the numbers offered. No way would I ever offer that to my clients,” he tells MND.
With 102,000 product liability cases naming seven mesh makers filed in Charleston, WV, consolidated in multidistrict litigation, there are an additional 1,000 cases naming C.R. Bard filed in New Jersey and another 9,000 naming Ethicon/ Johnson & Johnson in the same court. Some of those have settled.
AMS (American Medical Systems), sold to Endo International in 2011 and stopped making pelvic mesh one year ago. AMS/Endo agreed to a mass settlement of its transvaginal mesh cases. Because of that move, there was no discovery required to prepare for trial, therefore little evidence on which to base litigation.
Caldera Medical has offered about 2,700 women a dwindling amount of insurance money, about $11.75 million, the amount that remained after legal wrangling with its insurance carrier.
Those settlement packets of approximately $4,000 per plaintiff are currently being sent out. It does not include legal fees and expenses, which will cut the settlement dollars roughly in half.
WHEN SETTLING MAKES SENSE
The harsh truth is that most of the 102,000 cases filed in multidistrict litigation will never pass the threshold of the courtroom.
Many plaintiffs refuse to accept the amount of dollars offered in a settlement. When they retained a law firm it was often with the promise of a “million dollar case.”
That is a red flag as no one can promise you the outcome of your case. There are far too many variables, such as a jury, for example. But still, emotions run high when a promise made isn’t kept.
Of the cases tried, most have resulted in jury awards compensating them for pain and suffering, for past and future medical care, and punitive damages.
Then the appeals process begins, which can take years. About four cases that won at the trial level, have exhausted the appeals process and been paid to the plaintiff. Gross v. Ethicon, the first New Jersey case against Johnson & Johnson, is on the eve of paying its $11.1 million jury award after nearly four years of appeals by J&J.
So when do you accept a settlement? For many women settlements make a lot of sense.
If you have a mesh in place and for the present time, are still able to function, a settlement might make sense. A lawyer can structure an annuity so the money is doled out for a longer time and it’s tax free.
There is no waiting years for the appeals process to wind through the court.
There is an immense downside in going to trial that many plaintiffs do not consider. A woman’s life is on display including her most intimate pelvic problems, she lives away from home, maybe for months, must be deposed by lawyers for the mesh makers and probed in a pelvic exam done by doctors for defense. There is always some degree of public humiliation about her weight, or preexisting conditions or her sex life. And there is no telling what a jury will do.
But if you think you have no options but stay with your current law firm, think again.
“I’m hearing stories of women being threatened by their attorney that they will face a penalty if they talk to another law firm. It is unethical to make that threat under New Jersey law. The client owns the case, not the lawyer,” he tells Mesh News Desk. ###

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J&J Settles Third Round of Pelvic Mesh Cases

Mar 28, 2017 | Mesh Device News

By Jane Akre

Mesh Medical Device News Desk, March 28, 2017 ~ J&J (Johnson & Johnson) has been the last company to come to the settlement table, but an unopposed motion announces a third settlement for an unknown number of pelvic mesh women.
We don’t know how many women are involved or the dollar amount, but J&J has agreed to settle an unknown number of pelvic mesh cases.
According to Pretrial Order #250, filed in multidistrict litigation in Charleston, WV, Fleming, Nolen & Jez are the plaintiffs’ firm that has reached the Qualified Settlement Fund with Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson.
The settlement has reportedly been in the works for some time, say sources. It occurred as the Susan Smith case (here) was being prepared for trial in Bergen County, New Jersey before Judge Rochelle Hartz.
Smith v. Ethicon trial was initially set for November 2016 then moved to January of this year.
Filed Monday, March 27, PTO#250 is a Motion establishing the Qualified Settlement Fund. The unopposed motion is granted by Judge Joseph Goodwin, overseeing multidistrict litigation in his Charleston, WV court.
Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson has consistently had the largest number of product liability cases filed in this federal court. As of today, there are 38,035 cases filed with 5,547 cases closed. That number represents the lowest number of closed cases proportionately.
As of today there are 102,133 cases filed against seven manufacturers in this MDL where nationwide cases have been consolidated.
Since November first, 4,840 additional product liability cases, naming all seven manufacturers,have been filed in Charleston, WV court.
Scott Freeman of The Settlement Alliance of Houston is appointed as the fund administrator. The settlement will be deposited in J.P. Morgan Chase Bank which will serve as the Esdrow Agent. The Master Settlement Agreement must also pay into the MDL No. 2327 Fund.
The Settlement Alliance offers Structured Settlement Trusts to provide tax-free payments.
The Houston-based Nolan law firm had several hundred transvaginal mesh cases. It is unclear how many are included in this settlement. George Nolan has a reputation of taking care of his clients and making sure they receive a just amount, says an unnamed source.
This would be the third settlement offer by J&J, which has been he firm least likely to come to the settlement table. In January, J&J made an offer to settle up to 3,000 lawsuits for $120 million to resolve up to 3,000 transvaginal mesh cases.
Last September, J&J offered settlements to an undisclosed number of clients of Blasingame, Burch, Garrard & Ashley. See the Mesh News Desk story here. ###

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J&J Offers Second Major Settlement to Pelvic Mesh Injured Women

Sep 9, 2016 | Mesh Device News

By Jane Akre

Mesh Medical Device News Desk, September 9, 2016~ Healthcare giant offers second settlement to resolve pelvic mesh injury cases.
Undisclosed Settlement is approved by multidistrict litigation judge.
Motions have been flying this week in the Johnson & Johnson Pelvic Mesh litigation filed in federal court in West Virginia.
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to its second settlement to resolve an undisclosed number of lawsuits filed by women injured by its vaginal mesh implants.
J&J and its Ethicon division has come to agreement with Athens, Georgia law firm Blasingame, Burch, Garrard & Ashley (BBGA).
Mesh News Desk has an inquiry into J&J for comment.
While settlement amounts are confidential, last April a $5 million settlement was revealed in New Jersey court documents in a private agreement with one injured woman. In January of this year, J&J agreed to a $120 million settlement, to resolve 2,000 to 3,000 pelvic mesh cases, its first big mesh settlement announced. The latest settlement is reported by sources to be close to that amount to resolve fewer cases.
“The exact allocation among and distribution to covered claimants, or any other persons or entities asserting a claim of subrogation or reimbursement, has not been finalized at this time.”
J&J is the last of seven manufacturers to offer settlements to resolve claims of injury and infection. As of today, the healthcare giant faces 34,535 product liability cases filed in federal court in West Virginia, where pelvic mesh cases are consolidated in multidistrict litigation (94,265 total), as well as 8,931 cases filed in New Jersey, Internationally, cases have been filed by law firms representing injured women in Canada, Australia, Israel, among other countries.
Women who have filed lawsuits claim the mesh shrank, caused organ damage, constant pain and infection. In many women, the permanent implants cannot be removed.
In Pretrial Order #237, filed September 7, Judge Joseph Goodwin, who is overseeing multidistrict litigation in WV, approved the Confidential Settlement Agreement with Ethicon. Judge Goodwin also appointed (PTO #236) Special Master Cathy Yanni to allocate and divide the settlement payouts. A woman’s medical condition, the number of surgeries she has had to endure as a result of her pelvic mesh implant will all be considered. Any outstanding liens, whether medical or to a lending company, will be negotiated as well.
The Special Master will receive $300 per claim plus $10,000 per calendar quarter and $2,000 per appeal.
Ms. Yanni has mediated over 10,000 matters over the past 17 years and has been appointed by Judge Joseph Goodwin to act as the Special Master for certain settlement agreements between Covidien, C.R. Bard, Boston Scientific and Coloplast and certain Plaintiffs’ counsel. She has also mediated DePuy Orthopaedics Inc ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, another company owned by Johnson & Johnson, as well as Medtronic Infuse litigation and Gadolinium Contrast Dyes product liability litigation, Bextra and Zicam litigation.
In another filing, Ethicon, moves to have Dr. Anne Weber excluded as an expert in some upcoming pelvic mesh trials.
In PTO #235, Judge Goodwin announces a September 13 and 14, 2016 status hearing to access the progress made by both sides in settling this massive MDL, the largest ever filed in one court.
In February, 2015, Judge Goodwin predicted a “Rocky Path” if both sides did not meet some agreements. See MND story here. ##

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Johnson & Johnson Offers First Transvaginal Mesh Settlement $120 Million

Jan 27, 2016 | Mesh Device News

By Jane Akre

Mesh News Desk, January 27, 2016 ~ Bloomberg News (here) reports Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $120 million to settle thousands of injury lawsuits filed by women implanted with the company’s transvaginal mesh.
The offer resolves anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 lawsuits. The number represents $40,000 to $60,000 per case before legal fees and outstanding debt is settled.
This is the first time J&J has offered to resolve its product liability cases regarding mesh.
J&J and its Ethicon division is currently facing more product liability lawsuits than any other mesh maker, in excess of 40,000 actions. According to its fourth quarter SEC filing the company does not consider the financial risk from pelvic mesh to be material.
J&J says it has spent $141 million in costs in total litigation expenses during 2015, that is down from $1.2 billion in 2014, says J&J Investor News.
The J&J Fourth Quarter report says, “The number of pending product liability lawsuits continues to increase, and the Company continues to receive information with respect to potential costs and the anticipated number of cases.”
Besides 30,665 cases filed in multidistrict litigation in Charleston, WV (here) , a number of personal injury cases have been filed in Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland and Venezuela seeking damages.
While other mesh manufacturers such as American Medical Systems and C.R. Bard have agreed to settle its outstanding product liability actions regarding pelvic mesh, J&J has not done so to date until the eve of a jury trial or, in one case, just as the case was about to go to the jury.
Any settlement requires at least 90 percent of qualified recipients agree to the terms of settlement.
J&J recently announced it was restructuring its medical device division and dismissing 3,000 employees after disappointing sales figures. #

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Settlement Dollars are Slow in Coming in Transvaginal Mesh Claims

Nov 5, 2015 | Mesh Device News

By Jane Akre

Only relevant portions included:
MND, Nov. 5, 2015~ Your editor recently sat down at the Mass Torts Made Perfect session on multidistrict litigation (MDL) to hear the latest on the settlements purported to be in the works concerning transvaginal mesh.
Attorney Henry Garrard told the crowd that four of five mesh manufacturers are in the settlement mode.
Ethicon – MDL 2327 ~ Is the ten thousand pound elephant in the room. A trial is set for December for 30 Plaintiffs implanted with the TVT (transvaginal tape) which will be a product defect case only. There are no individual cases. As a sterile design defect the trial is a disadvantage to the Plaintiff, however if they are successful with the TVT trial, it will represent a major problem for Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson.
Ethicon is facing 44,400 personal product liability cases, according to an October SEC report. See it here.
Also set were 200 cases for November addressing the oldest filed Ethicon cases. These are good for the Plaintiff because many of the older cases are the better cases. Recently Judge Goodwin sent out a notice to Plaintiffs’ firms to work up another 200 cases and have that to him by November 9. That process puts pressure on the Defendant.
The problem with Ethicon it says it will not settle TVT and TVT-O cases with a product in place and a non-surgical outcome because there is no demonstration of injury, says Ethicon. We are exploring how to deal with that said Garrard.
See Pretrial order #203 which dismisses without prejudice the 87 Plaintiffs listed in Exhibit A attached to PTO #199. That means then can be filed in the District Court closest to the Plaintiff, in this case North Texas. Here is the list of Plaintiffs.
According to Garrard, the mass advertising campaign currently seen on late night television is not helpful to get the Ethicons of the world resolved, largely because these cases dilute the better cases.
Ironically, not five minutes after a conversation with Mr. Garrard, I got a call on my cell phone from “Steve” of Medical Healthcare Center. He told me medical compensation might be offered if I had bladder sling surgery in the past, which I have not. #

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Judge Goodwin Calls for Pelvic Mesh Settlements as Lawyers Gather in WV

Feb 5, 2015 | Mesh Device News

By Jane Akre

Judge Joseph Goodwin has a problem. With more than 72,000 federal cases filed in his court, consolidated in multidistrict litigation (MDL), he knows there is not enough time for these plaintiffs to ever see justice.
The MDL was never intended to deal with a class of plaintiffs this large. So what to do?
Judge Goodwin has called all lawyers to Charleston, WV, the federal court where thousands of cases are consolidated. February 5, and 6, will be the judicial version of a “come to Jesus” session to reach some reasonable settlements and bring justice for the thousands of waiting women and do it now!
Woman are sick and need immediate financial help for revision surgeries, to save their homes and what little they have left after being debilitated by pelvic mesh implants. Finally – do the right thing, he will suggest, instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting a losing battle in court.
With $100 million in jury awards so far for the plaintiffs, the mesh manufacturers are calculating the risk/benefit analysis for the good of the company.
Judge Goodwin had intended these sessions to take place in January but updated the order here.
Defendant Representatives
Called to the court are the “defendant client representative(s) with full authority to make all decisions” related to each of the MDLs. He will meet privately with defendant client representatives as well as the plaintiffs’ representatives.
On Friday, attorneys for both sides of each MDL will be required to attend “breakout sessions” to further consult and come to some consensus.
Will the defendants be willing to negotiate or will they instead move to push Judge Goodwin to step down from this litigation as some have suggested? How do stockholders feel about the ongoing litigation with unfavorable outcomes for defendant companies – C.R. Bard, Ethicon (J&J), Boston Scientific, Covidien, Cook and Coloplast?
The judge let his feeling be known last December at a hearing in Charleston.
“I can’t imagine a corporation facing potentially billions of dollars in verdicts wouldn’t find it advisable to try to achieve a settlement for a much lesser sum,” said Judge Goodwin. “I base that billions of dollars of business on some of the rather large verdicts that we’ve had,” reports Bloomberg.
And there have been large settlements – $73 million in damages to one Texas woman implanted with a Boston Scientific mesh (later reduced to $34.9 million); $3.27 to a woman who had a J&J mesh; $26.7 million to four women whose cases were consolidated in a Miami federal trial against Boston Scientific. $18.5 million to four plaintiffs in Charleston also in December of last year. A few of these cases could cause a company to go bankrupt, comments a product liability law professor Carl Tobias to Bloomberg.
BTW- no amount of money will ever make a person whole who is permanently damaged from pelvic or hernia mesh. There is no price that can be put on health.
Some settlements are beginning to occur. Endo agreed to $1.3 billion to resolve most of its case; Bard offered $21 million to settle 500 lawsuits.
The company notes it is facing “significant financial exposure” with the remaining claims.

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