Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuit Update: Federal Bellwether Trial of C.R. Bard Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit Rescheduled for January, Bernstein Liebhard LLP Reports

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2013

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"Bellwether trials are used to gain insight into how juries might rule in cases involving similar allegations of fact in large, complex litigations. We are representing hundreds of women in transvaginal mesh lawsuits filed against C.R. Bard and other manufacturers, and are looking forward to the outcome of this trial," says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing the victims of defective drugs and medical devices. Firm partner, Jeffrey S. Grand, is a member of the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee in the federal C.R. Bard litigation. Bernstein Liebhard LLP continues to offer free legal evaluations to women who allegedly suffered mesh erosion, chronic pain, infections, and other complications following implantation of devices manufactured by C.R. Bard, Inc., as well as American Medical Systems, Inc., Ethicon, Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp.

Vaginal Mesh Lawsuits

Court documents indicate that C.R. Bard is named a defendant in more than 5,700 transvaginal mesh lawsuits that are pending in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia. Of the four cases selected for the litigation's first round of bellwether trials, only one has actually gone before a jury. That trial ended in August with compensatory and punitive damages totaling $2 million being awarded to the victim of vaginal mesh complications associated with an Avaulta device. During the trial, the Plaintiff had alleged that C.R. Bard used a plastic resin in its Avaulta products that was deemed unfit for implantation in humans. (Cisson v. C.R. Bard Inc., 11-cv-00195)

In addition to his work on the federal multidistrict litigation for claims against C.R. Bard, Bernstein Liebhard partner, Jeffrey S. Grand, is also serving on the Plaintiffs' Steering Committees in a number of other consolidated proceedings underway in West Virginia, including: In re: American Medical Systems, Inc., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation - MDL No. 2325; In re: Boston Scientific Corp., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation - MDL No. 2326; and In re: Ethicon, Inc. Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation - MDL No. 2327.

Mr. Grand was also appointed Co-Liaison Counsel in multicounty litigations that were established in New Jersey's Bergen County Superior Court for vaginal mesh lawsuits filed against C.R. Bard and Ethicon. He was also a member of the trial team for the proceedings' first Ethicon mesh trial. That case ended in March, after a woman injured by a Gynecare Prolift device was awarded more than $11 million in damages. (In re: Pelvic Mesh/Gynecare Litigation, No. 6341-10; In re: Pelvic Mesh Litigation/Bard, No. L-6339-10).