ClaimsLackingSufficientInformation

[Table of Contents](#i769337f517694ce29a72abc52f207787_10)  
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (Continued)Becton, Dickinson and Company  
  
MDL began in August 2021, resulting in a complete defense verdict. Trials are scheduled into fiscal year 2022 in various state and/or federal courts, including one trial currently scheduled for January 2022 in the MDL. The Company expects additional trials of Hernia Product Claims to take place over the next 12 months. The Company cannot give any assurances that the resolution of the Hernia Product Claims that have not settled, including asserted and unasserted claims and the putative class action lawsuits, will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition and/or liquidity.Women’s Health Product ClaimsAs of September 30, 2021, the Company is defending approximately 405 product liability claims involving the Company’s line of pelvic mesh devices. The majority of those claims are currently pending in various federal court jurisdictions, and a coordinated proceeding in New Jersey State Court, but claims are also pending in other state court jurisdictions. In addition, those claims include putative class actions filed in the United States. Not included in the figures above are approximately 830 filed and unfiled claims that have been asserted or threatened against the Company but lack sufficient information to determine whether a pelvic mesh device of the Company is actually at issue. The claims identified above also include products manufactured by both the Company and two subsidiaries of Medtronic plc (as successor in interest to Covidien plc) (“Medtronic”), each a supplier of the Company. Medtronic has an obligation to defend and indemnify the Company with respect to any product defect liability relating to products its subsidiaries had manufactured. In July 2015, the Company reached an agreement with Medtronic in which Medtronic agreed to take responsibility for pursuing settlement of certain of the Women’s Health Product Claims that relate to products distributed by the Company under supply agreements with Medtronic. In June 2017, the Company amended the agreement with Medtronic to transfer responsibility for settlement of additional Women’s Health Product Claims to Medtronic on terms similar to the July 2015 agreement, including with respect to the obligation to make payments to Medtronic toward these potential settlements. As of September 30, 2021, the Company has paid Medtronic $161 million toward these potential settlements. The Company also may, in its sole discretion, transfer responsibility for settlement of additional Women’s Health Product Claims to Medtronic on similar terms. The agreements do not resolve the dispute between the Company and Medtronic with respect to Women’s Health Product Claims that do not settle, if any. The foregoing lawsuits, unfiled claims, putative class actions, and other claims, together with claims that have settled or are the subject of agreements or agreements in principle to settle, are referred to collectively as the “Women’s Health Product Claims.” The Women’s Health Product Claims generally seek damages for personal injury allegedly resulting from use of the products.As of September 30, 2021, the Company has reached agreements or agreements in principle with various plaintiffs’ law firms to settle their respective inventories of cases totaling approximately 15,295 of the Women’s Health Product Claims. The Company believes that these Women’s Health Product Claims are not the subject of Medtronic’s indemnification obligation. These settlement agreements and agreements in principle include unfiled and previously unknown claims held by various plaintiffs’ law firms, which are not included in the approximate number of lawsuits set forth in the first paragraph of this section. Each agreement is subject to certain conditions, including requirements for participation in the proposed settlements by a certain minimum number of plaintiffs. The Company continues to engage in discussions with other plaintiffs’ law firms regarding potential resolution of unsettled Women’s Health Product Claims, which may include additional inventory settlements.A trial in the New Jersey coordinated proceeding began in March 2018, and in April 2018 a jury entered a verdict against the Company in the total amount of $68 million ($33 million compensatory; $35 million punitive). In March 2021, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court vacated the verdict and ordered a new trial. Plaintiffs have sought appeal of the reversal to the New Jersey Supreme Court and the Company has cross-appealed on a separate issue; the court has advised it will consider the appeal and cross-appeal. Additional trials of Women’s Health Product Claims may take place over the next 12 months, which could potentially include consolidated trials.68
