The third bellwether trial in the Ethicon vaginal mesh multidistrict litigation (MDL), which involves more than 65,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits, was delayed.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin, who is overseeing the coordinated proceedings, did not offer an explanation for the third trial’s postponement. The vaginal mesh lawsuit to be heard was filed by plaintiff Diane B. and was scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 4.

The court date is now March 2.

The delay also slows down the progress of the entire MDL. Vaginal mesh lawyers were asked to submit a proposed joint agenda for a status conference that is to be held before the third bellwether trial.

This announcement seems to contradict the judge’s earlier order that was to speed up the litigation process, which was issued in August. Results of the first two bellwether trials were mixed.

The first trial that took place earlier in this year went in favor of the defendant. The jury determined that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence. The second trial ended in favor of the plaintiffs, with a judgment of $3.27 million to be paid by Ethicon.

Overview of Vaginal Mesh Litigation

Goodwin is overseeing multiple MDLs involving different vaginal mesh manufacturing companies including Ethicon, Boston Scientific, American Medical Systems, Coloplast, Bard Avaulta, Cook Medical, and Neomedic. There are approximately 21,700 Ethicon lawsuits pending in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, where Goodwin presides.

Each of the women who have filed a vaginal mesh lawsuit against Ethicon and other mesh manufacturers had these products implanted into them to treat either their pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or stress urinary incontinence (SUI). While these devices were celebrated when they were first released, it was soon discovered that they could cause debilitating complications.

The injuries alleged in these suits include mesh erosion and extrusion, tissue infection, mesh tearing, and constant pain. In some of these cases, plaintiffs had been forced to undergo revision surgery to remove the defective mesh products.