Plaintiffs in the C.R. Bard Inc. vaginal mesh multidistrict litigation (MDL) in West Virginia are asking the federal judge in charge to consolidate 185 vaginal mesh lawsuits for their January trial.

Transvaginal mesh products are intended for repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and female stress urinary incontinence (SUI). However, many have been reported defective and several multidistrict litigations are in process representing over 60,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits nationwide. The C.R. Bard MDL has been pending in court for four years.

Plaintiffs are citing Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42, which has been successfully employed to consolidate lawsuits with similar allegations. The C.R. Bard MDL was created and transferred to the court in October 2010, 14 months before the other three related pelvic MDLs were assigned.

The 185 cases that remain in the C.R. Bard MDL are from the two “waves” that the court ordered to be worked up for potential trials. The original pool was only 200 cases, so the caseload has barely scratched the surface. Plaintiffs argue that the vaginal mesh lawsuits all share similar allegations, as well as the same products, and that trying the cases independently could drag out litigation for many more years.

The plaintiffs argued: “The effort and expense associated with bringing the same witnesses and experts to trial to meet plaintiffs’ burden of proving the same liability case multiple times … will enable the defendants in this litigation to use their superior resources to exert undue economic pressure on the plaintiffs, rather than having these cases decided solely on their merits.”

Their pretrial consolidation request points out that over the course of these MDLs, C.R. Bard’s in particular, it has been proven “that preparing cases for trials one-by-one will simply not accomplish the Court’s objective of fairly and efficiently moving these cases towards resolution.” They add that if the judge chooses not to consolidate, they will still offer evidence from multiple situations with each case.

Cases are supposed to be “trial-ready” by Jan. 30.

The Transvaginal Mesh MDL is In Re: C.R. Bard Inc. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No: 2187, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Charleston Division.

Vaginal Mesh Complications

Made of strips of surgical mesh for internal use, transvaginal mesh products are intended to repair female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). However, due to faulty materials and other issues, seven companies are facing lawsuits over their pelvic mesh products.

Vaginal mesh lawsuits currently exist against Boston Scientific (12,000 mesh lawsuits), Johnson & Johnson/Ethicon (19,380 lawsuits), C.R. Bard (9,500 lawsuits), American Medical Systems (18,000 lawsuits), Cook Medical (250 lawsuits), Coloplast (1,600 lawsuits) and Neomedic (66 mesh lawsuits). C.R. Bard lost a $2 million verdict in the first vaginal mesh trial.

In April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was considering proposals to tighten safety standards for transvaginal mesh devices used to treat pelvic organ prolapse, potentially requiring manufacturers to submit data proving the devices’ safety and effectiveness before letting them enter the market.