Atrium C-Qur Bellwether Trials to Begin in February 2020

Atrium C-Qur Bellwether Trials to Begin in February 2020

Introduction

According to a case management order dated May 29, 2018, the federal bellwether trials for Atrium Medical Corp.’s C-Qur hernia mesh will begin on February 19, 2020. A settlement conference for the first lawsuit selected for trial is to be convened latest by January 6, 2020.

The order further states that the counsel for plaintiffs and defendants must pick 8 cases each by July 20, 2018, for inclusion in the initial discovery pool. Only those hernia mesh lawsuits filed on or before April 1, 2018, which have plenary jurisdiction in the District of New Hampshire would be eligible. For the expert discovery, the plaintiffs and defendants are required to select 4 trial pool cases each, by March 1, 2019, from the initial discovery lot.

Atrium C-Qur surgical mesh is used for inguinal hernia repair procedure. Allegations against the mesh claim that the polypropylene used in C-Qur is biologically incompatible with human tissue and has been reported to cause organ perforation and even death in some cases. More than 470 lawsuits claiming C-Qur hernia mesh complications are a part of a federal multidistrict litigation ( MDL No. 2753 In Re: C-Qur Mesh Products Liability Litigation) in the District of New Hampshire overlooked by Hon. Judge Landya B. McCafferty.