Johnson & Johnson has settled more than 200 cases remaining in a multi-district litigation over hernia mesh made by its Ethicon subsidiary.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Story in Northern Georgia on Dec. 1 agreed to dismiss the cases with prejudice at the request of lawyers for both sides. The lawyers had informed him that they had compromised and settled all claims between them, including all counterclaims, cross-claims and third-party claims.
There were no additional details about the settlement in the court documents.
In a statement shared by a spokesperson, Ethicon said:
“While we empathize with any patients who experience medical complications from surgery, our company acted appropriately and responsibly in the research, development and marketing of its hernia mesh products which have been used to care for millions of patients around the world for more than 50 years. This settlement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing and was agreed to in the best interests of all parties to avoid a prolonged legal process and allow us to continue to focus on helping patients, including those requiring hernia treatment, to live their best lives.”
The lawsuits arose out of Johnson & Johnson’s 2016 recall of Physiomesh flexible composite hernia mesh. The company said at the time that it decided on the recall after studies showed higher revision rates after a type of minimally invasive hernia repair using Physiomesh.
According to Johnson & Johnson’s most recent annual report, thousands of lawsuits followed in federal courts, with the cases organized as a multi-district litigation (MDL) in the U.S. District Court in Northern Georgia. There was also the formation of a multi-county litigation (MCL) in Atlantic County, New Jersey.
In May 2021, J&J’s Ethicon entered into a term sheet to resolve roughly 3,600 Physiomesh cases, involving roughly 4,300 plaintiffs in the MDL and MCL. In September 2021, the company entered into a resulting master settlement agreement that included 3,729 cases in the MDL and MCL.
Of the cases subject to the master settlement agreement, 2,236 had been dismissed with prejudice by the start of 2023. However, more than 200 cases remained active because they were subject to docket control orders requiring early expert reports and discovery requirements. Those remaining cases now appear to have been settled.