Statute of Limitations
Michigan Compiled Laws § 600.5805(2) provides a 3-year limitations period for product liability personal injury claims. The discovery rule applies to latent injury cases. Michigan's statute of repose (MCL § 600.5839) bars claims more than 10 years after the product was first sold to the plaintiff. Michigan uses a modified comparative fault system — recovery is barred if plaintiff's fault is 51% or more.
3 years from discovery; 10-year statute of repose
Where to File in Michigan
Michigan hernia mesh claimants are routed by product to: Davol/CR Bard MDL 2846 (S.D. Ohio, Judge Sargus); Covidien Parietex MDL 2511 (S.D. Ohio, Judge Sargus); Atrium C-QUR MDL 2753 (D.N.H.); and Ethicon/J&J Physiomesh and Prolene cases to the Atlantic County NJ Superior Court mass tort before Judge Porto. Michigan's Eastern District (Detroit) is the common originating federal court before JPML conditional transfer.
Michigan applies a three-year statute of limitations for products liability under MCL § 600.5805(13), with the discovery rule tolling the period until the plaintiff discovered or should have discovered the injury and its cause. Michigan also has a product liability statute of repose of ten years from the date of delivery, but the discovery rule governs accrual within that window. Mesh complications arising years after implantation — erosion, bowel obstruction, seroma — are squarely within Michigan's discovery-rule framework.
Michigan's major hernia mesh implant centers include Henry Ford Health, Michigan Medicine (University of Michigan), Beaumont Health, and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. The Detroit metro area and Flint-Lansing corridor generate significant surgical volume. Bard Davol's PerFix Plug, Ventralex, and Composix L/P products are heavily represented in Michigan defendant product distribution. Michigan's large manufacturing and industrial workforce has historically elevated hernia incidence, driving above-average mesh implant rates.
Michigan Ethicon plaintiffs should file in Atlantic County, NJ Superior Court under the mass tort designation rather than seeking a federal transfer, as there is no federal MDL for Ethicon hernia mesh. Judge Porto's Atlantic County docket accepts Michigan plaintiffs, and Michigan firms with NJ co-counsel relationships can efficiently file direct actions in that forum. The geographic proximity to S.D. Ohio also makes MDL 2846 and 2511 convenient for Bard and Covidien Michigan plaintiffs.
Exposure in Michigan
Source: MCL § 600.5805
Source: Michigan Bureau of Labor Statistics
Source: Michigan Health and Hospital Association