By Kim Truongle –
AMS – Our firm is part of a multi-firm settlement with AMS. If you are one of our AMS clients and have not yet been contacted by us, your contact information may be outdated, so please contact us at (800) 269-3050. Settlement administration is expected to take many months, even into the year 2016 for many claimants, but the process is being moved as quickly as possible. The best our clients can do to speed up settlement is to keep their contact information updated. We will reach out to our clients when we have more information on specific settlement offers for each individual.
Ethicon/J&J – Currently, there are no active negotiations with Ethicon. Instead, we are working to provide more information to Ethicon regarding a specific sampling of cases, presumably so the company can further analyze the nature of the docket. The federal Ethicon trial slated to begin in the Southern District of West Virginia this month has been postponed to March, 2015.
Boston Scientific – Boston Scientific trials around the country have, so far, gone both ways – for some cases, Boston Scientific was found not liable; for other cases, Boston Scientific has had hefty verdicts handed down against them. Many of our Boston Scientific cases are currently in negotiations, but no settlement has yet been reached. Meanwhile, we are preparing a case for trial in the MDL system.
Bard – We are currently preparing a Bard case for trial. There are no negotiations currently in Bard-only cases. We are engaged in negotiations regarding other Bard-related claims involving mesh products co-manufactured by Tissue Science Laboratories Limited and Sofradim Production SAS, but no agreement to settle has yet been reached.
Other Manufacturers – We are also working on mesh cases manufactured by Coloplast and Cook, and these make up a much smaller percentage of our docket. If you have a Coloplast or Cook case with us, please feel free to phone our office for an update on your specific case.
Case-Specific Updates – Due to the unique nature of these claims, our office usually does not proactively contact you unless a major development has occurred in your case. Otherwise, our time would be spent just updating clients, instead of working on the case itself. Not hearing from us does not mean that your case is idle, nor does it mean that you are not represented. Instead, we have an “open door” policy that anytime you would like an update, simply phone us at (800) 269-3050 to speak to a Case Manager. If one is unavailable due to the volume of calls, you will receive a callback within 1 business day. Instead of generic updates done in a mass mailout, we think this method better keeps you updated on YOUR specific case, and it also works better to fit into your busy schedule.
We are pushing forward on our TVM cases and are honored to represent thousands of women who have been harmed by their mesh device.
Happy Holidays to you and yours as we look forward to 2015!
