Mass Tort brief
High Court Keeps BHP's £36bn Dam Trial on Track as Medtronic Mesh Claims Mount
London judges refuse to freeze the largest group injury action in English history, while US bellwether verdicts raise settlement pressure on surgical mesh makers.
Mass Tort
The High Court refused to freeze the £36bn Mariana Dam lawsuit — keeping the largest mass injury trial in English history firmly on schedule.
BackgroundThe 2015 Fundão dam collapse in Minas Gerais, Brazil, unleashed millions of tons of toxic mining waste, killing 19 people and devastating the Rio Doce basin. In November 2025, the London High Court ruled BHP strictly liable under Brazilian law, making it the largest group action in English legal history.
- Mr Justice Constable ruled the April 2027 quantum trial must proceed, preventing tactical procedural delays across the £36 billion damages dispute.
- A client leadership committee had sought to replace Pogust Goodhead with Bailey Glasser International, triggering an expedited October hearing on legal representation.
- Over 400,000 Brazilian individuals, indigenous communities, and local municipalities are represented in the London proceedings against BHP.
Mass Tort
An $88m bellwether jury verdict against Medtronic is accelerating global settlement pressure — giving fresh momentum to UK surgical mesh redress campaigns.
BackgroundSurgical meshes made of synthetic polypropylene and resorbable collagen coatings are implanted to repair abdominal wall hernias and tissue tears. Patients allege defective barrier designs degrade prematurely, causing severe internal adhesions, organ perforations, and chronic pain.
- A federal jury ordered Covidien to pay $88 million after finding the company failed to warn that its Symbotex hernia mesh collagen barrier absorbed prematurely.
- More than 10,500 active injury claims across state and federal dockets await trial, with a second bellwether trial scheduled for January 2027.
- The US liability findings strengthen ongoing campaigns by UK patient groups demanding dedicated financial compensation schemes for NHS surgical mesh victims.
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