C.R. Bard will pay $184 million to settle a majority of the lawsuits filed against its Davol subsidiary involving the unit's Composix Kugel and other hernia repair implant products.
More than 2,700 plaintiffs had filed suit pursuing product-liability claims for personal injuries related to the products, which were voluntarily recalled starting December 2005, as MassDevice notes. The company disclosed the settlement in a June 30 SEC filing.
The cases involved patches manufactured by Davol from 2001 to 2006. These mesh patches fold in half and are inserted behind a hernia. They also include a "memory recoil ring" that redeploys once inside the abdomen, as The Providence Journal reports. However, some of the rings broke under stress and eventually traveled inside the body, causing stomach pain, intestinal blockages, bowel perforations and death, the suits alleged.
Even though Warwick, RI-based Davol initiated the voluntary recall after receiving reports of injuries, the FDA eventually stepped in, ordering a mandatory recall for a variety of Kugel mesh patches, the Journal adds.
As MassDevice reports, Bard refuted most of the claims, saying it acted responsibly and began the recall voluntarily. Last August, a North Carolina couple won $1.5 million in a lawsuit against Bard.
- check out the SEC filing
- get more from MassDevice
- see The Providence Journal story