MDL Admissions

Medical device manufacturers are obligated to ensure products released onto the market are safe. Unfortunately, many manufacturers have failed to live up to this obligation in recent years. Thousands of patients nationwide have been seriously harmed by the failures of entire categories of medical devices, including transvaginal surgical mesh and metal-on-metal hip implant systems.

Patients harmed by defective devices typically file lawsuits in state and federal courts where they live, but individual processing of thousands of claims nationwide is time consuming and inefficient. Multidistrict litigation (MDL) is a solution to this problem as it allows individual plaintiffs to retain independent cases while consolidating the claims before one judge. The judge can then preside over pretrial motions and can answer common questions of law applicable to all cases on evidentiary questions, discovery issues and other common issues.

Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers has extensive experience with multidistrict litigation and our attorneys have been admitted to some of the largest pending MDLs currently ongoing in the United States, including MDLs related to both defective hip implants and dangerous transvaginal mesh products.

Multidistrict litigations are created by a seven-member United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The seven members of the panel are appointed by the United States Supreme Court and the panel determines when it is appropriate to consolidate multiple cases pending in federal courts throughout the United States.

When cases are consolidated in one court, individual plaintiffs often have their cases moved to a different state. The law on MDLs allows each plaintiff to continue being represented by his local attorney.

Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers has been admitted to multiple pending MDLs, including:

• An MDL pending in the Northern District of Georgia arising from problems with Wright Conserve metal-on-metal hip implant products.
• An MDL pending in Minnesota arising from problems with the Stryker Rejuvenate hip implant products.
• An MDL pending in the Northern District of Texas arising from problems with the DePuy metal-on-metal hip implant products.
• An MDL pending in the Southern District of West Virginia arising from transvaginal mesh products manufactured by Ethicon, C.R. Bard and American Medical Systems.

In each of these pending MDLs, plaintiffs are seeking compensation for damages they experienced as a result of the defective medical devices. In both the TVM claims and the defective hip implant claims, patients were often required to undergo revision surgery.

In many cases, hip implant patients were forced to undergo surgical procedures after the metal-on-metal systems released metal debris into the body, causing toxicity and other health complications. Patients also experienced problems involving loosening of the acetabular cup, which causes severe pain and limits mobility. Mesh patients, on the other hand, have experienced erosion of the mesh and may have suffered from bladder or bowel perforation as a result of TVM complications.

If plaintiffs can prove that the defective products were the cause of their harm or that the medical device manufacturers failed to adequately warn them of the risks, plaintiffs can be compensated for medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering and other damages.

In other cases, manufacturers will settle with plaintiffs when MDLS are formed. Test trials, or bellwether trials, move forward to provide plaintiffs and defendants with information on how a jury is likely to perceive their claims. The outcome of these cases often guides settlement negotiations and helps plaintiffs and defendants determine appropriate compensation.

Although MDL cases are already underway, plaintiffs injured by defective medical devices can continue to make claims against manufacturers of TVM and metal-on-metal hip implants. Contact the Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers today to learn more about how our attorneys can help with your case.