First Federal Surgical Mesh Lawsuit Trial Begins, as C.R. Bard Accused of Using Plastic Resin Unsuitable for Humans

Opening statements were heard yesterday in the first federal trial involving a transvaginal mesh lawsuit. The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of a Georgia woman implanted with one of C.R. Bard, Inc.’s Avaulta mesh products, alleges the company knowingly used a plastic resin in the Avaulta devices that was unfit for permanent implantation in humans.

“The company knew in 2002 and 2003 that synthetic vaginal mesh could cause significant erosion of the patient’s tissues, and infection,” the Plaintiff’s attorney told the jury assembled to hear the case in U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia. According to Bloomberg.com, the lawyer asserted in his opening statements that warnings the manufacturer of the resin included with the product “was a red flag to Bard, but they just went on by it and ignored it.” He further maintained that had women and doctors been aware of that warning, they would have refused to use Bard’s Avaulta mesh products.

More than 20,000 Lawsuits Filed Over Alleged Vaginal Mesh Complications

According to Bloomberg.com, C.R. Bard and other manufacturers of transvaginal mesh have been named in more than 26,000 lawsuits filed on behalf of women who allegedly suffered mesh erosion and other serious vaginal mesh complications. The products, which are used to surgically treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence, have been the subject of growing litigation since the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued warnings in 2008 and 2011 regarding the thousands of transvaginal mesh adverse event reports filed with the agency.

The woman at the center of the federal trial received Bard’s Avaulta Plus device in 2009 to treat prolapse, but has since undergone several surgeries to remove the mesh due to complications that included bladder spasms and chronic pain. Yesterday, her attorney told jurors that despite those repeated procedures, the Plaintiff’s doctors have been unable to remove all of the mesh. “She has to worry about this forever,” he said.

While this is the first C.R. Bard surgical mesh lawsuit to go to trial in federal court, the company was found partially responsible for another woman’s Avaulta mesh injuries last July by a jury in California Superior Court. The jury, which also found the Plaintiffs’ doctor partially responsible for her complications, awarded the woman more than $5 million. Bard was ordered to pay $3.5 million of the judgment.

Vaginal Mesh Lawsuits Continue to be Evaluated

Bernstein Liebhard LLP is representing hundreds of women in surgical mesh lawsuits against C.R. Bard and other companies. If you or a woman you love were harmed by vaginal mesh complications, please contact our firm today for a free legal evaluation by calling .