Ethicon MDL Trial Delay Till August

Wave, WikiCommons

Mesh Medical Device News Desk, May 16, 2018 ~ What happened to the Ethicon, (Johnson & Johnson) product liability trial that was supposed to start in Charleston, West Virginia in May?

Ethicon MDL Trial Delay Till August

You might have heard the terms Wave 7, which is a grouping of plaintiffs with a similarity, that is, similar pelvic mesh, in this case, or all from West Virginia, for example.

Well, there has been a delay.

In Pretrial Order (PTO)#296, issued by Judge Goodwin on May 1, has chosen 150 cases involving West Virginia plaintiffs to be grouped into a “wave” and worked up for trial.

The pace is a slow one but a trial date has been set.

Pretrial conferences will begin August 1 of this year in Charleston, the site of multidistrict mesh litigation.

Trial should begin August 14th at 8:30 am in the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

In PTO #291, Judge Goodwin sets deadlines for that wave. Pretrial order #298 was filed by Judge Goodwin Tuesday, May 15th. In it, he lays out a schedule to take the remaining Wave 7 and Wave 8 cases to court in Charleston, WV in the MDL.

CLEAR THE DOCKET

Previously Judge Goodwin had granted Ethicon’s motion to clear the docket of non- revision TVT cases, that is, women who have not had any attempts to have the mesh removed. There might be a good reason she's not had a revision or removal.

Perhaps her health is compromised and she can’t undergo anesthesia. She may not have insurance or access to a doctor who recommends removal.

To be defined as a revision surgery the woman must undergo general, regional or MAC anesthesia.

Judge Joseph Goodwin

None of that matters. Ethicon wants to rid the court of non-revised cases.

“Ethicon position is, in part, that such Non-Revised Plaintiffs do not currently have cognizable claims against it because they have not had a “Revision Surgery,” writes Judge Goodwin.

See MND on what Ethicon was granted here.

Meshes in the TVT family include TVT Retropubic, or Abdominal, TVT Obturator, TVT Abbrevo, TVT Exact. Four devices which are no longer marketed are also included such as Prolift, Prolift +M, Prosima and TVT-Secur.

Prolene mesh and particles

The TVT family also includes Gynemesh PS and Prolene, the proprietary name of Ethicon (J&J’s) polypropylene mesh.

Because their case is filed without prejudice, the thousands of women in this group have five years to either have surgery or undergo a similar gynecological procedure and they can refile their cases.

Judge Goodwin writes non-revised plaintiffs need to file an election form by July 10, 2018 to either dismiss her case without prejudice or to continue her case.

The Order gives the deadlines that follow for the rest of 2018.

Motions must be filed by December 3, and expert daubert expert motions by December 18. After that the cases will either be placed on trial or remanded to the proper venue of a federal district court.

Judge Goodwin has previously articulated that he wants this MDL before him resolved and that neither side would be happy with that compromise. ##

LEARN MORE:

So. District of WV, Judge Goodwin Orders
https://www.wvsd.uscourts.gov/MDL/ethicon/orders.html

MND, April 11, 2018, Judge Goodwin to Dismiss Thousands of Non-Revision Ethicon Mesh Cases
https://www.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/breaking-judge-goodwin-to-dismiss-thousands-of-non-revision-ethicon-mesh-cases/