Judge Refuses to Toss California Consumer Act Claim in Atrium Hernia Mesh Case

CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire federal judge has refused to dismiss a California Consumer Legal Remedies Act claim in a bellwether Atrium hernia mesh case, ruling that the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence that the manufacturer failed to adequately warn her surgeon of the product’s risks.

However, in the May 14 order, Judge Landya McCafferty of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire rejected Atrium’s argument that the plaintiff lacks standing, noting that under the learned intermediary doctrine, Atrium’s duty to warn of the patch’s risks runs to the treating physician, rather than directly to the plaintiff.