Major medical device companies are increasingly outsourcing their innovation. Here’s what that means. The medical device industry is increasingly relying on small, young companies to provide innovations, but the early-stage medtech companies are mostly relying on angel investors. It’s also more important than ever to protect intellectual property and mitigate exposure to litigation. Those were […]
Product Liability
Indiana man may proceed with pain pump lawsuit against Medtronic
An Indiana federal judge on Friday dismissed two parts of a lawsuit against Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), but said that the plaintiff can continue to pursue the third count. Kirk Bledsoe sued Medtronic in Indiana state court in 2017 after the company’s Synchromed II pain pump, which Bledsoe had implanted in 2011, failed on two occasions and […]
Bayer loses Essure appeal in Indiana
An Indiana appeals court has ruled that more than 30 women suing Bayer (ETR:BAYN) over its Essure permanent birth control device may proceed with their case. The women claimed that after they had Essure implanted in their fallopian tubes, they suffered a number of health problems, including “menorrhagia, extreme fatigue, abdominal pain, back pain, joint […]
Medtech product liability and IP: Here’s where it’s going
Greenberg Traurig is one of the largest law practices in the United States, with 2,100 attorneys serving clients in 41 offices in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. Medical Design & Outsourcing recently sought insights from some of the top lawyers at GT who are involved in medical device products liability […]
Report: Appeals court revives hip implant lawsuit against Zimmer-Biomet
A federal appeals court has reinstated a personal-injury lawsuit against Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) over a metal-on-metal hip prosthesis implanted in 2011. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals revived the lawsuit that a Pennsylvania U.S. District Court judge dismissed in August 2018 because it missed the statute of limitations, according to an article by Law 360. […]
Johnson & Johnson agrees to $117m pelvic mesh settlement with 41 states, DC
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) yesterday agreed to pay $117 million to settle charges of deceptive marketing of its pelvic mesh products with 41 states and the District of Columbia. The states and DC alleged that J&J and subsidiary Ethicon broke state consumer protection laws by misrepresenting the safety and effectiveness of its mesh devices, which […]
West Virginia AG sues Johnson & Johnson over pelvic mesh
West Virginia attorney general Patrick Morrisey yesterday became the latest state AG to sue Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon over its pelvic mesh products. The newest complaint, filed Sept. 18 in the Monongalia County Circuit Court, alleges that Ethicon’s “unlawful, unfair and deceptive marketing of polypropylene mesh products” concealed the potential risks of pelvic […]
Zoll loses bid to dismiss LifeVest lawsuit
A federal judge has denied Asahi Kasei (TYO:3407) subsidiary Zoll Medical’s motion to toss out a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who attribute her death to a faulty Zoll LifeVest wearable defibrillator. U.S. District Court Judge Darrin Gayles in the Southern District of Florida also halted Zoll’s effort to bar evidence from the plaintiffs’ […]
First state AG suit over pelvic mesh heads to trial
The first lawsuit filed by a state attorney general, California’s Xavier Becerra, over pelvic mesh products went to trial yesterday in San Diego. The lawsuit alleges that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon concealed the potential risks of pelvic mesh from the public and physicians. It’s the first of several lawsuits brought by state AGs […]
Johnson & Johnson unit loses 9th pelvic mesh case in Philly
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon last week reportedly lost the ninth of eleven product liability lawsuits brought before a Pennsylvania state court when the jury awarded $500,000 in damages to the plaintiff. In handing down the July 28 verdict for Linda Dunfee and her husband Thomas Dunfee, the jury in the Philadelphia County Court […]
Plaintiff wins $120m in latest pelvic mesh trial against Johnson & Johnson unit
A state court jury in Philadelphia reportedly slapped Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon with a $120 million verdict yesterday in a product liability lawsuit brought over one of its pelvic mesh products. The jury in the Pennsylvania Court of Common pleas awarded Susan McFarland $20 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages after […]