3rd Cir. Denies Plaintiff’s Motion for Rehearing in Ethicon Hernia Mesh Action

PHILADELPHIA — The 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has refused to reconsider its decision upholding dismissal of a hernia mesh lawsuit against Ethicon Inc. as untimely filed.

On Oct. 24, the appellate court denied plaintiff Michael Bond’s motion for rehearing en banc, in which he argued that in its ruling, the panel “converted what could have been a straightforward statutory construction opinion into an unintelligible opinion lacking a supportable legal basis.”

In its opinion, the appellate panel affirmed that the claims are barred by North Carolina’s six-year statute of repose because the plaintiff’s claims accrued on the date when …