The first class action — led by plaintiff law firm Shine Lawyers — commenced in October 2012 and culminated in a trial that ran over seven months starting in July 2017, in what was called “the largest women’s health class action in Australia’s history” at the time.

Shine had alleged that the implants should not have been sold, that the warnings accompanying the implants were inadequate and that the implants caused an unacceptable rate of complications, including erosion, incontinence and chronic pain. It is estimated that over 12,000 women joined the class action.

In November 2019, Justice Anna Katzmann of the Federal Court of Australia found in favour of women impacted by pelvic mesh implants sold by Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon that were “not fit for purpose”.

An appeal was lodged in April of the following year, returning to court in February 2021 before the earlier decision was upheld in March of last year. The High Court then dismissed an appeal to that ruling in November, and in April 2022, the Federal Court ordered that class action members be compensated.

In April 2021, Shine Lawyers filed a second class action against Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson, on behalf of women who were impacted by the faulty mesh implants during different periods to those who fell under the first class.

The news followed the filing of separate proceedings by AJB Stevens Lawyers against Boston Scientific Corporation and Boston Scientific Pty Ltd on behalf of women who have suffered “debilitating injuries” caused by mesh implants that “were not of merchantable quality and did not have an acceptable quality”.

Shine Lawyers’ class actions practice leader Rebecca Jancauskas said the settlement, which is subject to approval by the Federal Court, will help support women’s treatment needs. 

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“We welcome this settlement which brings the litigation to an end,” she said.

“If the Federal Court approves the settlement our focus will shift to the important task of distributing the settlement to group members.”