Check Out Our New Forum!
The Your Turn Forum provides a space where people can post questions about mesh and medical device related issues and get advice and support from the Mesh News Desk community.
Join the Discussion!Product Liability Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)
Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, overseeing MDL
June 7, 2013 ~ News coming out of Charleston, West Virginia in the upcoming trials of C.R. Bard over its Avaulta family of transvaginal mesh products show the cases are moving along to a July 8 trial date as defendant, C.R. Bard tries to limit the testimony of 12 sets of expert witnesses. A set refers to the four plaintiff cases set to be heard back-to-back:
Donna and Dan Cisson, et al. v. C. R. Bard, Inc. 2:11-cv-00195
Wanda and Greg Queen, et al. v. C. R. Bard, Inc. 2:11-cv-00012
Linda and Ronald Rizzo, et al. v. C. R. Bard, Inc. 2:10-cv-01224
Carolyn Jones v. C. R. Bard, Inc. 2:11-cv-00114
On June 4, orders were entered by Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to limit the testimony of some expert witnesses in an effort to move along the four back-to-back cases.
A Motion by C.R. Bard was granted to limit the opinions and testimony of Denniz Zolnoun, MD MPH; (see Part Three Suffering in Silence here).
Bard argued in a motion filed March 21, 2013 that argues that, “Dr. Zolnoun’s opinions are “unsupported by any testing or reliable methodology.”
Judge Goodwin granted that motion and Dr. Zelnoun’s opinions are excluded in their entirety.
In the Cisson case expect to hear from treating physician Dr. Bernd Klosterhalfen, Dr. Lennox Hoyt, Dr. Bob Shull, and David Kessler, MD, former head of the Food and Drug Administration. A possible addition as an expert witness for the Jones case could be Dr. Donald Ostergard (see back story here) who was one of the first doctors to say that mesh is “not inert” and is active in the body.
Henry Garrard, attorney for the Donna and Dan Cisson, says these are normal proceedings to keep the trials moving forward. Garrard tells MDND he is optimistic about the outcomes. Email request for comment to two attorneys from Bard will be added to this story as/if they come in.
The punitive phase of the trials where damages are awarded to discourage the defendant from making and marketing defective products will follow the compensatory phase of each trial.
As of May 31, there were 3,457 total cases filed against C.R. Bard in the So. District of West Virginia. Four other Defendants include American Medical Systems, Inc., Boston Scientific Corp.; Ethicon, Inc., and Coloplast Corp.
The total number of cases filed in the Charleston, West Virginia court totaled 22,136 as of May 31, 2013. #
