Despite winning a landmark $300 million settlement over pelvic mesh implants more than a year ago, thousands of Australian women have yet to receive compensation. The delays and hefty legal costs are expected to leave them with significantly less than originally awarded.
More than 10,000 Australian women registered for the class action launched by law firm Shine against medical device giant Johnson and Johnson.
Barrister Peter Cashman, who has run many of Australia's most famous class actions, says the costs in these cases need to be scrutinised. Shine ambassador and US advocate Erin Brockovich, whose legal fight for a community with contaminated water inspired a Hollywood film, promoted the class action.In 2008, Ms Sara had two surgeries with mesh and immediately encountered problems."When my husband was still alive at that time, and when we were intimate, he was cut. It was horrible."
Ms Sara has had a dozen surgeries to try to remove the mesh but still lives with chronic pain and autoimmune diseases. It is expected lawyers for the administrators will then assess her condition for further compensation. He questioned whether Shine wanted to settle because it might be the only way it could recoup those interest costs.
Jan Sadler, the former Shine lawyer who left the firm and then became one of the administrators of the settlement fund, said the administrators were "undertaking both eligibility and compensation assessments however this process will not be completed for some time yet". $26 million is expected to go to paying back third parties such as Medicare, the NDIS, Centrelink and private health insurers as required by law in compensation cases
The costs summary which Shine submitted to the Federal Court for approval in June 2020 shows that one of Shine's senior counsel was charging $17,000 a day.Under "miscellaneous", Shine claimed almost $2 million.The ABC asked Shine to tell us how this figure was calculated after many of the group members complained about the lack of communication with Shine during the legal process.
Pelvic Mesh Class Action Johnson & Johnson Compensation Delay Legal Costs
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