Getinge AB Sets Aside $200 Million For Atrium Hernia Mesh Cases

Getinge AB Sets Aside $200 Million For Atrium Hernia Mesh Cases

Introduction

Getinge AB, the Swiss parent company of Atrium Medical Corporation, has set aside an amount totaling to $200 million (SEK 1.8 billion) to cover the ongoing costs of litigation and future hernia mesh settlements involving around 900 lawsuits filed against Atrium Medical in the U.S and Canada.

In a conference call, the Chief Executive Officer Mattias Perjos and Chief Financial Officer Lars Sandstrom of Getinge confirmed that the plan had been outlined to cover all present and future costs linked to the litigation over Atrium hernia mesh defects. Apart from the $200 million compensation, the company also revealed it has liability insurance to cover the expenses involved in some or all of the Atrium hernia mesh cases. The Food and Drug Administration had announced a recall for certain C-Qur surgical mesh devices in October 2013. Atrium hernia mesh multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2753; In Re: Atrium Medical Corp. C-Qur Mesh Products Liability Litigation) was established by the JPML in December 2016 assigned to the Honorable Landya B. McCafferty in New Hampshire District Court.  The first trials for Atrium hernia mesh defects would commence in the late 2019 or early 2020.

As of September 2018, more than 2,300 hernia mesh lawsuits are pending in the federal MDLs targeting Ethicon’s Physiomesh Flexible Composite mesh, Atrium C-Qur products, and C.R. Bard's polypropylene products.