A Georgia federal judge has chosen six vaginal sling lawsuits to be tried as potential bellwether trial cases for the national vaginal mesh multidistrict litigation (MDL). Two of the vaginal sling lawsuits will be tried as soon as October and November of 2015.

The vaginal sling lawsuits were filed against Mentor Corp., now a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, for a defective medical device known as the ObTape sling, a pelvic mesh implant that has allegedly injured female consumers.

What Is a Bellwether Trial?

A bellwether trial is legal tool used by federal courts to help streamline mass tort litigation, that is, where hundreds or thousands of people have been allegedly injured by the same defendant or groups of defendants. During bellwether trials, a judge and the parties involved select between 5 and 10 representative cases that can be tried before a jury, thus reducing duplicate discovery and conflicting rulings during the course of the MDL.

The plaintiffs in the selected vaginal sling lawsuit bellwether cases generally have claims that represent class-wide issues that will arise for all injured parties involved in the vaginal mesh product mass tort litigation. The ultimate goal of a bellwether trial is to indicate future trends in litigation and potentially promote settlements for future injured parties. The bellwether trials give involved parties key insight into whether certain types of cases should be settled and indicate what an appropriate settlement sum might be.

The Vaginal Sling Bellwether Trials

U.S District Judge Clay D. Land selected six out of hundreds of vaginal sling lawsuits filed against Mentor Corp., the manufacturer of ObTape sling. Now that the six bellwether cases have been selected, the judge has ordered the parties to set a schedule and create a process for determining which two of the six cases will be set to go to trial in fall of this year.

The six bellwether cases were initially filed between 2011 and 2013 by plaintiffs Beryl C. and Roger G., Sandra and Joseph P., Barbara and Rufus B., Bonny and Frank H., Lori J. and Rosa P. The cases consolidated in the vaginal sling MDL, including the chosen bellwether cases, allege similar claims against Mentor Corp., including several counts of negligence, fraudulent concealment, misrepresentation, breach of express and implied warranty, and failure to warn.

Prior ObTape bellwether litigation against Mentor Corp has varied in results for plaintiffs. In June 2013, Mentor Corp. successfully defended a negligence lawsuit in respect to their ObTape vaginal sling product. However, in July of 2013, both parties settled an ObTape lawsuit shortly before bellwether trial was set to begin. Earlier this year, 111 plaintiffs involved in a vaginal sling MDL reached a confidential settlement with Mentor, and recently asked a judge to set up a vaginal sling settlement fund trust to manage and distribute the settlement funds.

Vaginal Mesh Complications

The ObTape Sling is a pelvic mesh implant used to treat stress urinary incontinence. This prescription medical device was manufactured by Mentor Corp. until it was discontinued in 2006. The hundreds of vaginal mesh lawsuits accuse Mentor of concealing ObTape vaginal sling risks from the medical community and the general public. Women who had the transvaginal mesh implanted allegedly suffered from serious infections, abscesses, and vaginal scarring. Many of the women who had the vaginal mesh device implanted further allege that their injuries are ongoing, since medical professionals cannot remove the device due to extensive infection and the fragility of the surrounding body tissues.

Thousands of vaginal mesh lawsuits have been filed against various medical device manufacturers, including Mentor. Millions of dollars in settlements have already been awarded to plaintiffs across the nation. These settlements help many women pay medical bills and serve as compensation for the pain and suffering they experienced and continue to experience due to the defective vaginal mesh devices.