Since common questions of fact and law are raised in each of the complaints, the litigation has been consolidated before U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs in the District of Massachusetts, for coordinated pretrial proceedings and a series of early test trials.
In July 2024, Judge Burroughs directed the parties to select a group of 10 BioZorb lawsuits for a “bellwether” process, with each side designating five cases for a Discovery Pool. Those BioZorb injury cases have been going through depositions, exchange of medical records and other case-specific discovery, to help the parties gather information to select a smaller group of cases to present to juries as early test cases.
Last month, the parties whittled that list down to four bellwether trial candidates, and were called upon by Judge Burroughs to propose a system for selecting the order of the trial cases by January 17.
In an order issued electronically through the court docket on January 16, following a status conference held the previous day, Judge Burroughs announced that the first BioZorb lawsuit will go before a jury on September 8, 2025, with a second trial set to begin on January 20, 2026. The order indicates that both trials are expected to last three weeks, and that the next two trial dates will be set later.
In addition, Judge Burroughs denied several motions for summary judgment filed by Hologic, indicating she is not going to address any motions that do not directly affect the bellwether trials until a later date. However, Judge Burroughs indicated that Hologic may renew the motions following the conclusion of the four bellwether trials.
While the outcome of these early trial dates will not have any impact on other claims being pursued against the manufacturer, the average BioZorb lawsuit payouts awarded by juries are likely to have a substantial impact on settlement negotiations needed to avoid each claim ultimately being set for trial in the future.