NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Eva Schothorst-Gransier, Claims Made Advocatuur
District Court of Amsterdam 14 February 2024 and 1 May 2024 (ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2024:745 and 2479) and 17 December 2025 (ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2025:9951) – Allergan/breast implants On 12 December 2022, on behalf of thousands of women, the Foundation Bureau Clara Wichmann issued a WAMCA class action against Allergan, an American medical device manufacturer of breast implants. The women claim the breast implants to be defective, as a result of which they have suffered damage. On 14 February 2024, the District Court of Amsterdam ruled that: • Bureau Clara Wichmann is admissible in its claim as a representative of the women who were implanted with the device in the Netherlands; and • the WAMCA only applies to these women who have a device implanted that was put on the mar - ket after 15 November 2016. As a consequence, the case could proceed on its mer - its. On 1 May 2024, the Court provided the instructions for the process of opting in and opting out. Moreover, parties were given a deadline of 14 August 2024 to reach an out-of-court settlement, but this was without result. After the hearing on 23 September 2025, the final judgment was handed down on 17 December 2025. The Amsterdam District Court held that: • the implants could not be regarded as defective; • there was no causal link with the alleged com - plaints; and • Allergan had fulfilled its duty to warn. As a result, the claim was dismissed. Meanwhile, Bureau Clara Wichmann has lodged an appeal against the judgment with the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. District Court of Midden-Nederland 8 January 2025 and 26 March 2025 (ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2025:10 and 1209) and 11 February 2026 (ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2026:356) – Bayer/Essure On 3 April 2023, a WAMCA class action was issued by the Foundation Essure Claims (and others) against medical device manufacturer Bayer. The case con -
cerns permanently implanted birth control devices for women (female sterilisation). On behalf of these women, who had such a device implanted in the Netherlands, the Foundation is holding Bayer liable for general and special damages due to these alleg - edly defective products to which numerous women attribute various complaints. Preliminary issues were dealt with on 8 January 2025 in the interim judgment of the Court Midden-Nederland, Utrecht. The Court ruled that: • it was (internationally) competent to rule on the col - lective claim against Bayer; • the WAMCA is (temporally) applicable; • the Foundation was admissible in its claim; and • Dutch law applies. In its judgment of 26 March 2025, the Court laid down the (practical) instructions for the process of opting in and opting out, which were largely in line with what the parties had agreed upon. The hearing of 1 December 2025 resulted in another interim judgment dated 11 February 2026: “Both the Foundation et al. and Bayer rely on medical-scientific studies to substantiate their positions. The parties have engaged in extensive debate regarding the evi - dential value and relevance of these studies. In light of the current state of affairs, the court concludes in this judgment that it requires further information before it can decide whether the women’s complaints were caused by Essure and whether Essure is defective. To obtain greater clarity on these issues, Bayer must pro - vide additional information and the court will appoint a panel of experts”. 2.17 Summary of Significant Recent Product Liability Claims Please refer to 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Rep- resentative Proceedings or Co-Ordinated Proceed- ings in Product Liability Claims , in addition to the following.
District Court The Hague 23 July 2025, ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2025:13057; Odido
Two consumers unsuccessfully claimed that Odido’s SIM card could be regarded as defective. According to the Court it cannot be established that there is a
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