Bard Settles Vaginal-Mesh Case After $2 Million Verdict
By Jef Feeley - Aug 21, 2013 1:04 PM ET .
C.R. Bard Inc. (BCR) agreed to settle a woman’s claims that its vaginal-mesh implants caused her injuries as the second federal trial of lawsuits over the devices was about to begin in West Virginia.
Attorneys for Wanda Queen of North Carolina notified a judge in Charleston, West Virginia, today that they had settled her claims that Bard’s Avaulta insert caused pain and forced her to have six surgeries. The settlement comes a week after another West Virginia jury ordered Bard to pay $2 million in damages in a separate suit involving the product.
Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed. Scott Lowry, a Bard spokesman, said today’s accord covered only Queen’s claims and wasn’t part of a larger resolution of thousands of others that are pending.
“This is a large, complex litigation and Bard will consider each case based on the facts and merits,” Lowry said in an e-mailed statement. “We will continue to vigorously defend against all other lawsuits involving Avaulta.”
Bard, based in Murray Hill, New Jersey, faces more than 8,000 claims over Avaulta, which women allege can cause organ damage and make sexual intercourse painful when the devices erode. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Endo Health Solutions Inc. (ENDP) and Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) face similar claims that their implants, threaded in place through vaginal incisions, shrink over time.
The implant cases against Bard and other manufacturers have been consolidated before U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin in Charleston for pretrial information exchanges. Two other trials are set for October, according to court dockets.
The Bard consolidated cases are In re C.R. Bard Inc. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, 10-md-02187. Queen’s case is Queen v. C.R. Bard Inc., 11-cv-00012, U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston).
By Jef Feeley - Aug 21, 2013 1:04 PM ET .
C.R. Bard Inc. (BCR) agreed to settle a woman’s claims that its vaginal-mesh implants caused her injuries as the second federal trial of lawsuits over the devices was about to begin in West Virginia.
Attorneys for Wanda Queen of North Carolina notified a judge in Charleston, West Virginia, today that they had settled her claims that Bard’s Avaulta insert caused pain and forced her to have six surgeries. The settlement comes a week after another West Virginia jury ordered Bard to pay $2 million in damages in a separate suit involving the product.
Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed. Scott Lowry, a Bard spokesman, said today’s accord covered only Queen’s claims and wasn’t part of a larger resolution of thousands of others that are pending.
“This is a large, complex litigation and Bard will consider each case based on the facts and merits,” Lowry said in an e-mailed statement. “We will continue to vigorously defend against all other lawsuits involving Avaulta.”
Bard, based in Murray Hill, New Jersey, faces more than 8,000 claims over Avaulta, which women allege can cause organ damage and make sexual intercourse painful when the devices erode. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Endo Health Solutions Inc. (ENDP) and Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) face similar claims that their implants, threaded in place through vaginal incisions, shrink over time.
The implant cases against Bard and other manufacturers have been consolidated before U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin in Charleston for pretrial information exchanges. Two other trials are set for October, according to court dockets.
The Bard consolidated cases are In re C.R. Bard Inc. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, 10-md-02187. Queen’s case is Queen v. C.R. Bard Inc., 11-cv-00012, U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston).