Litigation concerning complications from transvaginal mesh products is continuing to move forward.

Earlier this month, the District Court for the Southern District of Virginia issued an order selecting four lawsuits for bellwether trials in litigation concerning C.R. Bard Inc.'s Avaulta mesh products. The first bellwether trial is slated to begin on June 11.

In layman's terms, bellwether trials are the first cases to be tried in a group of similar cases. Typically, these trials set the trend in terms of how similar cases might transpire.

In the cases, women claim the mesh products, which are designed to support organs in the pelvic region that have shifted due to weakened or stretched muscles, often from childbirth, caused complications such as infection, incontinence, and abdominal, pelvic and vaginal pain.

Other transvaginal mesh federal litigation concerning C.R. Bard, American Medical Systems Inc., Boston Scientific Corp. and Ethicon Inc. products is also underway in the Southern District of West Virginia, and more than 1,000 suits are pending in consolidated proceedings in New Jersey Superior Court.

Earlier this month, the country's first trial involving Ethicon's mesh product resulted in a jury awarding more than $11 million to the plaintiff, including $7.76 million in punitive damages.

For more InsideCounsel coverage of surgical mesh news, read: