Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuit Settlements

As of November 2024, about 95% of transvaginal mesh lawsuits have been resolved through settlements or jury verdicts, but lawyers are still accepting cases for potential settlement or trial.

It’s estimated that manufacturers have paid more than $8 billion in settlements and verdicts to resolve these cases, and the litigation continues. In February 2023, Ethicon paid a $9.9 million settlement to the state of Kentucky to resolve claims that the company failed to disclose the risks of its transvaginal mesh devices.

Ethicon

Most of Ethicon’s transvaginal mesh settlements for individual plaintiffs have been for undisclosed amounts. It quietly settled groups of cases with individual law firms after losing several bellwether trials. In the first trial in 2013, a New Jersey jury returned an $11 million verdict against Ethicon for injuries caused by its Gynecare Prolift.

In February 2023, Ethicon paid nearly $10 million to settle the state of Kentucky’s claims that the company “violated the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act by misrepresenting or failing to adequately disclose serious and life-altering risks of surgical mesh devices when marketing the product to doctors, as required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”

Ethicon challenged a $302 million judgment from a lawsuit brought by the state of California over the company’s pelvic mesh devices. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the verdict.

As of November 2024, there were 26 Ethicon cases open or pending in a federal MDL.

C.R. Bard

C.R. Bard settled or otherwise resolved most of its federal transvaginal mesh MDL cases, but as of November 2024, a group of federal cases still exists in New Jersey multicounty litigation. According to court documents, the court officially transferred these cases from Judge Brian R. Martinotti to Superior Court Judge Rachelle L. Harz in June 2023. Seven of these cases have been stayed through March 2024 as they continue to progress through the settlement process.

After losing a state lawsuit for $3.6 million in 2012 and a federal lawsuit for $2 million in 2013, Bard settled a pair of cases for undisclosed amounts. In October 2014, Bard settled more than 500 lawsuits for $21 million, but the judge presiding over the MDL was disturbed by Bard’s slow pace.

In December 2014, Judge Joseph Goodwin told Bard to settle additional cases or face billions of dollars in jury verdicts. In August 2015, Bard settled another 3,000 cases for $200 million and a number of others for confidential amounts. In 2020, the company agreed to pay $60 million to settle vaginal mesh claims with 48 states.

American Medical Systems

American Medical Systems was the first company to offer a substantial transvaginal mesh settlement when it agreed to pay up to $830 million to settle 20,000 claims in 2014. Before this settlement, the company offered to pay $54.5 million to settle an undisclosed group of cases.

According to Bloomberg, American Medical Systems’ parent company, Endo International, set aside $775 million to settle 22,000 claims in August 2017. In total, the company has spent about $2.6 billion to settle its mesh cases.

As of November 2024, the company hasn’t announced any additional transvaginal mesh settlements. Per its most recent annual report, Endo International had liabilities of around $50.7 million held in Qualified Settlement Funds (QSFs) for pelvic mesh cases in the USA.

Boston Scientific

In March 2023, an Australian federal court approved Boston Scientific’s $105 million offer to settle a class-action lawsuit. In 2021, the company entered into a $189 million settlement agreement with 47 states over its vaginal mesh devices.

Boston Scientific lost multiple jury verdicts before settling3,000 mesh lawsuits for $119 millionin April 2015. In December 2017, the company settled an additional 350 lawsuits for an undisclosed amount.

According to the company’s 2018 annual report, Boston Scientific “entered into master settlement agreements in principle or are in the final stages of entering one with certain plaintiffs’ counsel to resolve an aggregate of approximately 50,000 cases and claims.”

Coloplast

Coloplast faced the second-fewest lawsuits in the West Virginia MDL. The company announced it would settle about 400 mesh lawsuits for $16 million in January 2014. The claimants reportedly received about $40,000.

The company hasn’t reported any more settlements or jury verdicts as of November 2024. According to its 2022/2023 annual report, Coloplast now considers its MDL cases closed.

As of November 2024, average vaginal mesh settlement amounts have ranged from $40,000 to $450,000. Plaintiffs who have taken their cases to trial have received millions in jury verdicts, but some of these verdicts have been overturned or reduced after appeal.

How much each plaintiff could receive in a transvaginal mesh settlement depends on several factors, including the severity of physical injuries, the age of the plaintiff and the extensiveness of treatment. Experienced transvaginal mesh lawyers can help clients maximize their settlement amounts.

Transvaginal mesh settlements could take anywhere from six months to several years. At one time, more than 100,000 transvaginal mesh lawsuits were pending in federal multidistrict litigation, so settlements took longer.

Because the bulk of these cases have been resolved, future transvaginal mesh settlements could happen more quickly. Sometimes, companies may offer to settle a case right before it heads to trial.

Anyone who has endured injuries from a transvaginal mesh implant and received treatment could potentially qualify for a transvaginal mesh settlement. Most attorneys still taking cases are restricting them to clients who have recently had the mesh removed or who required revision surgeries. Only a transvaginal mesh lawyer can tell you if you qualify.

Lawyers will see if you qualify by asking you several questions about your transvaginal mesh experience. These include when you received your implant, when you started experiencing problems and what kind of treatments you received for complications.

There are time limits to filing a lawsuit for a potential transvaginal mesh settlement, so it’s important to seek help from a lawyer right away. If the statute of limitations has passed on your case, you will not be able to file a claim. Even if you think the time limit has passed, talk to a lawyer about your legal options.