For Timothy M. O’ Brien, Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in the litigation and lead trial counsel for the Pattersons, the verdict was more than a substantial recovery in an individual case. It was, as he described it,“ a significant verdict completely supported by the uncontradicted evidence of the many years of harm the Pattersons suffered and will continue to suffer”.”
The Patterson case was the first of more than 2,400 lawsuits in the federal multidistrict litigation( MDL) to reach a jury. The litigation, In re: Covidien Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation No. II, MDL No. 3029, is pending before U. S. District Judge Patti B. Saris in the District of Massachusetts. The coordinated cases involve several Covidien hernia mesh products, including Symbotex, Parietex, and ProGrip devices.
Although one bellwether verdict does not determine the outcome of the remaining cases, the result gives both sides information they did not have before August 4— how a jury would respond to the plaintiffs’ evidence, the company’ s warnings, the competing explanations for Patterson’ s injuries, and Covidien’ s effort to place responsibility elsewhere.
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