C.R. Bard Settles Second Transvaginal Mesh Case for Undisclosed Amount

Woman, Courtesy Wiki Commons, Victor Nicolas

The plaintiff’s name is Melanie Vigil and she claimed C.R. Bard's Avaulta Mesh Suburethral Plus sling, a mesh made of polypropylene, eroded in her body causing internal injuries that led to multiple surgeries.

The sling is placed in a woman's pelvic region through the vagina (transvaginal) to treat incontinence.

Vigil and her husband Mark were set to go to trial in Atlantic City, New Jersey this month but now comes late word that Bard has settled with Melanie and Mark Vigil for an undisclosed amount of money.

Vigil was to go to trial in Atlantic City before Judge Carol Higbee September 23.

The junior high school music teach lives in Colorado, according to a report in Bloomberg (here). The 56-year-old Vigil has had three surgeries to correct urinary problems. There is no word in this story on her present condition.

Her case is Vigil v. C.R. Bard Inc. ATL-L6917-10 and it was filed in Superior Court of New Jersey on December 22, 2009.

Bard is based in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It made the Avaulta line of meshes which it has since taken off the market, but that has not stopped more than 8,000 cases from moving forward against the company.

So far the three cases filed that have go to court have either settled or ended in a jury award for damages to the plaintiff.

Last month, C.R. Bard settled another case filed by Wanda Queen on the eve of trial in Charleston, West Virginia. That case too was settled settled for an undisclosed amount of money. More on her case here.

In the case of Donna Cisson v. Bard, which ended August 15, jurors awarded Ms. Cisson $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages after her Bard Avaulta Plus caused chronic pain and led to multiple removal surgeries. The jurors also decided the mesh was a defective product. Follow that story here.

Last year Christine Scott and her husband won a case they filed in state court also naming C.R. Bard. The jury decided she should be awarded $5.5 million in compensatory damages and held her doctor liable for $1.9 million of the damage award. Bard is appealing that jury verdict.

Follow the litigation in Mesh News Desk under the Legal here.

Mesh is a permanent implant that support fallen pelvic organs. Manufacturers never tested it on humans in clinical trials before it was okayed by the Food and Drug Administration to be sold.

There are currently 886 product liability cases naming Bard pending in New Jersey's Superior Court Law Division. In the consolidated federal court there are 4,682 cases filed as of today.

Beside Bard, other mesh manufacturers include Ethicon (Johnson & Johnson), Boston Scientific, American Medical Systems, Coloplast and Cook Medical. The next case against Bard, filed by Linda Rizzo, is scheduled for federal court in Charleston, West Virginia October 8.

Learn More:

Melanie and Mark Vigil complaint here:

New Jerseys Mesh case load here:

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/.../case_list.htm

So. Division of West Virginia here:

http://www.wvsd.uscourts.gov/