Hernia Mesh MDLs: Bard at ~23,695 Pending Cases, Covidien Bellwether Vacated
As of spring 2026, the C.R. Bard hernia mesh MDL had about 23,695 pending actions and much of the inventory was moving through a settlement framework. The Covidien hernia mesh MDL had about 2,348 pending; a February 2026 bellwether was vacated by the court.
By 411 Press Newsroom2 min read
Two of the country's larger active medical-device multidistrict litigations — the C.R. Bard and Covidien hernia mesh MDLs — moved on different tracks in the spring of 2026.
The Bard MDL in the Southern District of Ohio (MDL 2846) had about 23,695 actions pending as of March 2, 2026, with much of the inventory moving through a settlement framework — claim review, documentation, and payment administration. The Covidien hernia mesh MDL in the District of Massachusetts had about 2,348 actions pending; a bellwether trial that had been set for February 2026 was vacated by the court.
Bard MDL 2846 — settlement framework administration
MDL 2846 consolidates federal hernia mesh cases against C.R. Bard before the Southern District of Ohio. Reporting on the docket as of early March 2026 puts the case count at roughly 23,695 pending actions, with a substantial portion of the inventory moving through the settlement framework. That phase is administrative: claims are reviewed against the framework's qualification rules, supporting documentation is collected, and payments are processed for qualifying claims.
A settlement framework in a mass tort is not a single check. It is a process. The pace of payments depends on documentation, eligibility review, and the framework's tier structure — not on the headline case count.
Covidien MDL — February 2026 bellwether vacated
The Covidien hernia mesh MDL in the District of Massachusetts had about 2,348 actions pending as of recent reporting. A bellwether trial that had been set for February 2026 was vacated by the court. Bellwether trials are representative cases pulled from the broader MDL inventory and tried to verdict to inform settlement valuations across the docket; a vacated bellwether delays that signal.
The reasons a court vacates a bellwether vary case to case — scheduling, motion practice, settlement posture, or selection disputes — and the underlying docket continues regardless.
What we're watching
- The next scheduled bellwether in the Covidien MDL and any rescheduling order
- Bard MDL settlement-framework throughput as claims are reviewed and paid
- Any new transfer orders affecting either docket
411 Press covers mass-tort litigation as ongoing news — what the courts have done, what the dockets show, and what comes next.
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