The fourth bellwether trial in the C.R. Bard hernia mesh litigation concluded in October after several weeks of trial with C.R. Bard being ordered to pay $500,000.00 in damages to the Plaintiff. Over 20,700 lawsuits are pending against the manufacturer alleging that Bard failed to warn consumers of the dangers and risks of the hernia mesh used widely in hernia repairs. This trial specifically involved the Bard PerFix Plug product.
Are the Bard Bellwether Trials Making Progress?
The purpose of bellwether trials is to give the parties involved an idea of what the average value is of these kinds of cases. The idea is that a global settlement of all claims can be reached if an average value is set. Generally, the defendants pick some to try, the plaintiffs pick some to try and the judge may select a few to try. The cases are then tried in the order determined by the judge with the idea that you can kind of get a flavor from cases that are representative of the whole pool. With such a large pool as the Bard cases, Bard hernia repair mesh lawyers may require quite a few to get a real feel for value.
Mixed Results in Bard Hernia Trials
At the present time, four of the C.R. Bard hernia mesh cases have gone to trial. The verdicts have been zero, $250,000, $500,000, and 4.8 million. These mixed results may make placing an average value on the cases more difficult rather than easier.
A Global Settlement Might Still Be on the Horizon
The next bellwether trial is set for January 2024 and is a defense selection. However, the defense filed a motion trying to remove this case from the bellwether because they discovered the damage model was worse than they initially anticipated. The judge denied this motion. The fact that this trial is a defense pick, is up next, and the defense now does not like it is good for the plaintiffs. A plaintiff’s verdict in this case could suggest that the defense evaluations of these cases are inaccurate. Since the defendants do not want this to happen, there is a possibility that they could get more serious about trying to resolve these cases before another potentially good plaintiff’s verdict is handed down.
Talk to a Bard Hernia Mesh Lawyer Today
Bard hernia mesh repair lawyers continue to file lawsuits on behalf of plaintiffs in the Bard MDL. If you had a hernia repair using a Bard product, now is the time to talk to a Bard hernia mesh attorney about your rights. Once a global settlement is reached in a mass tort case such as this one, it is generally too late to find a hernia mesh repair lawyer to bring new claims.
Author
