Anger, distress but $405m mesh implant payouts coming

One concerned woman's email to a judge over long-delayed payouts for those injured by defective medical products has triggered an acknowledgement that many are "in dire need" of compensation.

It has been more than three years since device makers Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific agreed to pay $405 million in one of Australia's largest-ever class action settlements.

Meant to assist women with prolapses and leakage, the makers' vaginal mesh products routinely caused chronic pain, incontinence and pain during sexual intercourse.

Although the Federal Court approved the last of the settlements in early 2023, many of the women injured by the implants have yet to see a cent.

The extensive delays led a woman to email the court directly in January.

She outlined her "urgent concerns" about inefficient communications by the three law firms jointly processing the eligibility and compensation assessments.

JGA Saddler, Slater and Gordon, and BDO were called before the Federal Court on Thursday where Justice Michael Lee demanded to know what had been going on.

Barrister Guy Donnellan, representing the three firms, acknowledged the distress, frustration and exasperation of the affected women.

"They have suffered for too long," he said.

"Many of them are in dire need of this money."

But he said some women would be waiting many more months to receive assessment notices, outlining the compensation for which they were eligible.

Around 18,000 women received the relevant mesh products from the early 1990s to 2017.

A few hundred of those who received Johnson & Johnson devices had not been assessed on whether they were entitled to a payout, the court heard on Thursday.

The administration team had now started assessing how much compensation each individual was owed based on their injuries, Mr Donnellan said.

In the Johnson & Johnson class actions, 3500 assessments had been completed with 750 notices sent out since the beginning of the year.

The remaining notices would be done by June, the court heard.

"They are being pumped out ... every day," Mr Donnellan said.

Additional circulars had been issued to affected women and a webinar had been planned in late February, he added.

He also revealed a privacy breach where the medical records of one woman were sent to another.

This was an isolated incident and would not happen again, Mr Donnellan told the court.

The court has previously been told about 6000 women had received interim payments, averaging $4100.

The case returns to court in July.

It was launched in 2018, culminating in a landmark decision in 2019 that Johnson & Johnson implants were defective, misleadingly marketed and the pharma giant was liable for the injuries caused.

The class action settlements followed shortly after the High Court declined to overturn the liability findings.