Filing class action lawsuits is one form of justice the United States is extremely good at. Lawsuits are the one thing corporate businesses are afraid of in America because they are known to make you bankrupt. Most lawsuits don’t go till the end of a trial. Most don’t reach the courts either.
Most lawsuits are settled in settlement meetings before the trial date. This is because it gives the corporate companies to quietly have the plaintiffs sign nondisclosure agreements and sweep the whole wrong under the rug, act as nothing happened, and quietly correct the mistakes they may have made.
People find it much better to settle class action lawsuits outside court because it saves a lot of time that might be wasted in courts, and also, one can never guess how a trial might go. Plus, there is the added burden of court costs that only increase the longer the case drags on. This makes outside-of-court settlements of class action lawsuits perfect both for plaintiffs and defendants.
However, class action lawsuits are different. Those are not that easy to settle or to cover up. Class action lawsuits are filed when a group of people decides to file a lawsuit together against any person, organization, or institution. Due to the many people involved, it becomes challenging to reach an agreeable consensus and shut the case. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened with the pharmaceutical company Bayer’s Essure product. Let’s know more about Essure class-action lawsuits.
What Is an Essure Class Action Lawsuit?
Essure is a device that was surgically implanted into women who were looking to sterilize themselves. However, the faulty product barely seemed to do any good. Instead, it gave adverse side effects to the thousands of women across the county who trusted the company.
Most of the victims came together and formed the Essar problems group and complained to the FDA about the harmful effects of Essure and the wreak it is causing in the female body. The agency then placed sale restrictions and black box warnings. Following this, Bayer declared they would stop selling Essure in the U. S. on 31st December 2018. The company simply said the reason behind it was the declining sales of the product.
Nearly two years later, Bayer finally agreed to pay a total sum of 1.6 billion dollars to settle all the Esser cases across the United States. In a public statement, Bayer, while claiming no responsibility, has said, “These U.S. settlements have no impact on pending litigation in other countries, as Bayer’s decision to resolve these cases is based significantly upon factors that are specific to the U.S. legal system.” But could be their legal approach to justify damaging thousands of womens’ internal organs?
The Company’s Defense
One by one, the company tried to weed out claims by arguing preemption against them all. It basically means that since the FDA, which was supposed to be the governing body and the license issuing authority, had previously approved of it, the company could no longer be held liable. This argument not only made all lawsuits more complicated but also got them dismissed. However, the superior court judge of Alameda in California agreed to listen to the victims despite the preemption. Most other judges had dismissed the cases due to them not meeting court requirements.
Some Common Complaints in the Lawsuits
Many women claimed a range of complications ranging from severe pain to dangerous autoimmune conditions. From the day of approval by the FDA, a total of 26,272 cases were reported as adverse events until January 2018. In addition, many women are said to live with chronic pain and inflammation even after undergoing multiple surgeries.
Many doctors even said that people were discouraged about the product due to its bad reputation. The first thing people would see when they searched Essure online is the countless lawsuits filed against it.
The Negligence on the Company’s Part
Lawsuits have claimed that Bayer was negligent in training doctors in using the product and successfully implanting it into women after surgery due to its approach of “Essure simulation training” instead of hands-on training. Victims also claim that the company didn’t even verify that the doctors completed this training at least.
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