Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuit Settlements Reportedly Reached in Some American Medical Systems Cases

Various media outlets are reporting that the parent company of American Medical Systems, Inc. has reached agreements to settle some transvaginal mesh lawsuits for a total of $54.5 million. According to Reuters, Endo Pharmaceuticals revealed the surgical mesh lawsuit settlements in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but did not admit any fault nor disclose how many cases were resolved.

Court documents filed in U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia, indicate that more than 7,700 mesh lawsuits have been filed over American Medical Systems’ devices used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence in women. In March, the company estimated that its potential liability in the transvaginal mesh litigation could climb as high as $160 million, Reuters said. Bloomberg.com reported that the settlements disclosed by Endo don’t affect the vast majority of cases being litigated in West Virginia.

Transvaginal Mesh Litigation Involves Several Manufacturers

American Medical Systems is just one of several medical device manufacturers named in federal mesh lawsuits pending in litigations in West Virginia. Others include Boston Scientific, C.R. Bard, and Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Inc. unit. The first trial in the federal litigations is set to begin on July 8^th, and will involve a C.R. Bard mesh lawsuit. The judge overseeing the proceedings recently designated four cases for bellwether trials in the American Medical Systems litigation, and those trials are slated to begin in December.

According to Reuters, thousands of women have received pelvic mesh products manufactured by American Medical Systems and others to treat stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. However, in 2008, the FDA warned that it had received more than 1,000 reports of serious complications in patients who had received such products. That was followed by another warning in 2011, after complication reports related to prolapse surgery increased by fivefold. The FDA has since directed the manufacturers of transvaginal mesh used in prolapse repair to conduct postmarket studies of their products to help it better understand their safety profiles.

While mesh lawsuits pending in federal court have yet to go to trial, two cases in state courts have ended in victories for plaintiffs. In July of last year, C.R. Bard was ordered to pay more than $3 million to a California woman after a jury in that state determined its pelvic mesh products were partly to blame for injuries she suffered. Earlier this year, a New Jersey Superior Court jury awarded more than $11 million in compensatory and punitive damages to a woman who was injured by Ethicon’s Gynecare Prolift device.

Transvaginal Mesh Attorneys Continue to Receive Inquiries

The transvaginal mesh attorneys at Bernstein Liebhard LLP continue to receive inquiries from alleged victims of mesh implant complications, and are offering free legal consultations to anyone injured by these devices. To learn more about the litigation involving vaginal mesh products, please call our Firm directly at .