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Medtronic jury awards $88 million in hernia mesh bellwether case
The federal jury found Medtronic's Covidien unit failed to adequately warn about hernia mesh risks, and it awarded no punitive damages.
Medtronic was ordered by a federal jury to pay $88 million to an Alabama man and his wife in the first bellwether case to go to trial over hernia-repair mesh implants made by its Covidien unit, after a three-week trial in Boston, Reuters reported.
Jurors concluded that Medtronic's Covidien unit failed to provide an adequate warning about dangers posed by a mesh implanted in 2017, according to the court record. The plaintiff's complaint says the implant required significant reconstructive surgery.
The verdict included no punitive damages, and jurors did not find that Covidien engaged in fraud. Medtronic said it will challenge the decision through post-trial motions and on appeal.
The case is a test for thousands of similar claims, with about 10,350 plaintiffs nationally pursuing cases alleging harm from hernia mesh products including Parietex, ProGrip and Symbotex, Reuters reported. Most of the litigation is in Massachusetts.