Hernia mesh claims: who can file and what to do in Michigan

Michigan hernia mesh claimants are routed by product to: Davol/CR Bard MDL 2846 (S.D. Ohio, Judge Sargus); Covidien MDL 3029 (D. Mass., Judge Saris); Atrium C-QUR MDL 2753 (D.N.H.); and Ethicon/J&J Physiomesh and Prolene cases to the Atlantic County NJ Superior Court mass tort before Judge Porto. Michigan's Eastern District (Detroit) is the common originating federal court before JPML conditional transfer.

Michigan applies a three-year statute of limitations for products liability under MCL § 600.5805(12). Michigan has no product liability statute of repose; for a product in use for at least 10 years, the plaintiff must prove a prima facie case without the benefit of any presumption (MCL § 600.5805(12)). Michigan has no general discovery rule: a claim accrues when the wrong is done, regardless of when damage results, unless a statute provides otherwise (MCL 600.5827; Trentadue v. Buckler Automatic Lawn Sprinkler Co., 479 Mich. 378 (2007)).

Michigan's major hernia mesh implant centers include Henry Ford Health, Michigan Medicine (University of Michigan), Beaumont Health, and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. The Detroit metro area and Flint-Lansing corridor generate significant surgical volume. Bard Davol's PerFix Plug, Ventralex, and Composix L/P products are heavily represented in Michigan defendant product distribution. Michigan's large manufacturing and industrial workforce has historically elevated hernia incidence, driving above-average mesh implant rates.

Michigan Ethicon plaintiffs should file in Atlantic County, NJ Superior Court under the mass tort designation. Federal Ethicon Physiomesh cases were centralized in MDL 2782 in the Northern District of Georgia in 2017. Judge Porto's Atlantic County docket accepts Michigan plaintiffs, and Michigan firms with NJ co-counsel relationships can efficiently file direct actions in that forum. The geographic proximity to S.D. Ohio also makes MDL 2846 convenient for Bard Michigan plaintiffs.