J&J loses $3.3M verdict in pelvic mesh injury lawsuit

September 5, 2014 By Arezu Sarvestani Leave a Comment

Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) Ethicon subsidiary has vowed to file an appeal after a federal jury found the company guilty of selling defective medical devices.

Just a day after the company urged the court to dismiss the lawsuit, the jury instead ordered the company to pay nearly $3.3 million after finding Ethicon guilty of negligence and failure to warn patients about the risks associated with its TVT-O transvaginal sling.

The outcome of the 2-year-old lawsuit could have important implications for Ethicon and J&J going forward, as the companies continue to face a stream of complaints about the mesh implants. Ethicon won the 1st bellwether in the MDL earlier this year after convincing District Judge Joseph Goodwin to toss that lawsuit out of court. Earlier this week Goodwin refused Ethicon’s request to dismiss this complaint.

The jury in this case ruled that Ethicon knew that its mesh products were defectively designed but did not take adequate action to warn doctors or patients. Attorneys for Ethicon said that the company plans to appeal the decision, maintaining that there is no evidence that the implants were defective, Law360.com reported.

J&J’s Ethicon subsidiary and several other medical device companies are facing thousands of personal injury lawsuits over their pelvic mesh offerings, designed to treat female urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

A separate mass tort is under way under Judge Arnold New of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Earlier this week a judge dismissed joint motions by J&J subsidiary Ethicon, Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR) and Endo Health Solutions (NSDQ:ENDP) unit American Medical Systems Holdings to toss all of the lawsuits en masse.

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