Bard, Boston Scientific in 1st trial against 2 pelvic mesh makers

A trial is under way in Kansas City in a product liability lawsuit against Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR), marking the 1st time a pelvic mesh lawsuit against 2 companies has gone before a jury, Courtroom View Network reported.

Plaintiff Eve Sherrer alleges that Bard’s Align and Boston Scientific’s Solyx used a polypropylene mesh that reacts to tissue by becoming brittle and that the companies failed to warn patients about the products’ attendant risks, according to the website.

Manufacturers of pelvic mesh products, designed to treat female urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, face some 70,000 lawsuits spanning 3 multi-district litigations. Only a few have made it to trial, with juries recording 16 wins for plaintiffs and 5 for the defendant companies.

After the failure of the Solyx mesh Sherrer had implanted in 2010 to treat her pelvic organ prolapse, she was implanted with the Align product, according to Courtroom View Network. Solyx, most of which was explanted after 67 days, caused her to become incontinent, her lawyer told the jury Dec. 2, and the Align implant’s stiffness led to chronic pain.

Boston Scientific’s attorney argued that Sherrer’s prior hysterectomy, osteoarthritis and an abdominal hernia could have caused her pain. The implant failed because it was not positioned correctly, he argued. Bard’s counsel told the jury that the material safety data sheet for the Marlex polypropylene mesh, indicating that the mesh is not suitable for permanent implantation, was included to cover liability, rather than safety issues, the website reported.

In October, a Texas state jury used a plaintiff’s prior medical history as the basis for ruling that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon’s Gynecare Prosima device was not defectively designed and that Ethicon’s risk warnings were adequate.

For Bard, Sherrer’s case is its 2nd to be heard in state court. In 2012 a California state jury awarded a plaintiff $5.5 million for injuries she attirbuted to the company’s Avaulta Plus mesh. Last year Boston Scientific won a pair of cases in Massachusetts state courts, but lost a $74 million case in Texas state court.

A Delaware state jury awarded a plaintiff $100 million last May, but a judge later slashed that judgment to $10 million. In October a North Carolina state jury found for the company.

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