Hernia Mesh Settlement Announced That Could Resolve Thousands of Lawsuits
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A significant amount of the ongoing hernia mesh lawsuits may soon be coming to a close. Becton Dickinson announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to a settlement that will resolve the “vast majority” of active hernia lawsuits against the company and its subsidiary C.R. Bard.
This means that much of the federal litigation based in an Ohio MDL may be settled, along with cases in consolidated litigation in Rhode Island.
As of this month, there were more than 24,000 lawsuits active in the MDL claiming that Bard’s hernia mesh was defective or caused serious injuries.
“BD believes this agreement is in the best interest of all parties and is structured to eliminate uncertainty for all stakeholders related to the settled cases,” Becton Dickinson said in a statement.
The company did not release the settlement terms, which are confidential, but it did say that it will pay out the settlement over multiple years and that the amount is within Becton Dickinson’s current product litigation reserve.
Litigation over defective hernia mesh has been ongoing for years, with multiple past settlements agreed upon. Bard Davol settled its Kugel hernia patch lawsuits for $184 million in 2011 and Ethicon reached a confidential settlement agreement with 224 MDL plaintiffs in December 2023.
What Hernia Mesh Settlement Means for Ongoing Lawsuits
The newly announced settlement will likely resolve the majority of the hernia mesh lawsuits residing in the Ohio MDL and in Rhode Island.
The Ohio MDL has made up much of the overall hernia mesh litigation, accounting for 24,115 of the 26,410 active lawsuits within multidistrict litigations as of this week.
But other active groups of cases against other hernia mesh manufacturers are unlikely to be impacted by this settlement. The Covidien MDL is currently making progress toward getting bellwether cases to trial. Parties were previously given a deadline of May 2025 to pick the first bellwether cases.
The tide turned against Becton Dickinson after it and its Bard subsidiary lost three trials in a row, creating pressure to agree on a settlement.
Bard won the first case to go to trial, but plaintiffs saw victory and were awarded verdicts of $225,000, $4.8 million and $500,000 in the next three trials.
The $4.8 million verdict, which a Rhode Island jury awarded to plaintiff Paul Trevino, was the biggest blow the company suffered.
After that, a settlement appeared to be the most likely course of action.
“The settlement does not include any admission of liability or wrongdoing, and BD continues to dispute the allegations in these matters,” Becton Dickinson said in its statement. “The company will continue to vigorously defend itself in cases not resolved through this agreement.”
