Given common questions of fact and law raised in each of the complaints brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, where the manufacturer’s headquarters are located, the litigation has been centralized before Judge Allison D. Burroughs for coordinated pretrial proceedings and a series of early test trials.
Before the recall was even issued, Judge Burroughs directed the parties to select a group of 10 BioZorb lawsuits for a “bellwether” process, with each side designating five cases that have gone through coordinated discovery and been prepared for early test trials.
BioZorb Lawsuit Bellwether Pretrial Schedules
Last month, Judge Burroughs announced the first two BioZorb bellwether trials would begin on September 8, 2025, and January 20, 2026, to help the parties evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments, and potentially drive settlement negotiations that may provide a framework for BioZorb lawsuit payouts to women who have experienced complications with the device.
In two pretrial orders issued on February 14, Judge Burroughs announced the schedules leading up to the start of the September bellwether trial (PDF) and January 2026 bellwether trial (PDF).
The pretrial order for the first trial indicates that a final pretrial conference will be held on August 25. Motions in Limine to exclude certain evidence from being presented to the jury must be brought by July 18, with oppositions to those motions to be filed by July 29, and responses due by August 5.
The order for the January 2026 trial schedules a final conference for January 6, 2026. Motions in Limine in that case will be due by November 21, with opposition to those motions to be filed by December 10, and replies due by December 19.
Before the trials commence, Judge Burroughs ordered the parties to meet and discuss a possible BioZorb settlement agreement, draft and sign stipulations as to all uncontested facts, narrow the issues to be focused on in the trials, present all exhibits to be used in trial, and to notify all parties of the names and addresses of witnesses who will be called to testify.
She also indicated that the Counsel should file joint or separate pretrial memoranda and trial documents summarizing the evidence, stating facts established through pleadings, contested issues of fact and other key questions likely to come up at trial.
For the September bellwether trial, the pretrial memoranda are due by July 29, with a trial briefing due no later than August 18. For the January 2026 trial, the memoranda are due by December 10, 2025, with a trial briefing due by December 30, 2025.
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 negotiations needed to avoid each claim ultimately being set for trial in the future.