The FDA, prompted by a significant increase in complaints about a type of surgical mesh used to treat pelvic organ prolapse in women, put the product under its most stringent level of review. The federal safety watchdog said it re-classified the mesh from Class II to Class III and will require makers to go through […]
Pelvic Mesh Lawsuits
Bard, Boston Scientific in 1st trial against 2 pelvic mesh makers
A trial is under way in Kansas City in a product liability lawsuit against Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR), marking the 1st time a pelvic mesh lawsuit against 2 companies has gone before a jury, Courtroom View Network reported. Plaintiff Eve Sherrer alleges that Bard’s Align and Boston Scientific’s Solyx used a polypropylene mesh that reacts to tissue by becoming brittle […]
Defect claims beat preemption in Ethicon pelvic mesh cases
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon must face design defect claims in 37 of the 23,000 lawsuits filed against it over its pelvic mesh products, a federal judge in West Virginia ruled yesterday. Ethicon asked Judge Joseph Goodwin of the U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia to grant summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiffs’ […]
Johnson & Johnson wins 1st Prosima pelvic mesh suit
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reportedly won the 1st lawsuit to go to trial over its Prosima pelvic mesh implant, after a Texas state jury ruled yesterday that the device was not defectively designed and that J&J subsidiary Ethicon’s risk warnings were adequate. The Dallas County District Court jury’s 10-2 verdict rejected claims by plaintiff Carol Cavness that Ethicon’s Gynecare Prosima […]
J&J’s Ethicon appeals $3m loss in pelvic mesh case
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon last week appealed a $3.3 million loss in a product liability lawsuit brought over its TVT-O pelvic mesh. Last month a federal judge shot down Ethicon’s bid to overturn the verdict and denied the company’s move for a new trial. A jury in the U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia awarded Jo Huskey […]
Plaintiff with murder conviction drops pelvic mesh lawsuit against Boston Scientific
The plaintiff in a pelvic mesh lawsuit, who wanted evidence of her murder conviction kept out of her case against Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), dropped the suit last week. Ramona Winebarger, who in 1995 pleaded guilty to murder in the death of her 1st husband and the shooting of another man, withdrew her suit Sept. 17, according to court documents. Winebarger […]
Boston Scientific looks to block pelvic mesh plaintiff’s bid to exclude murder conviction
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) wants a federal judge to allow evidence of a pelvic mesh plaintiff’s murder conviction, arguing its relevance to her claims that its Uphold device affected her mental health. Ramona Winebarger in 1995 pleaded guilty to murder in the death of her 1st husband and the shooting of another man. Sentenced to 35 years, she served […]
Business groups call for probe of medical funding in pelvic mesh cases
(Reuters) — Two business lobbying groups this week called on the Consumer Financial Protection Board to investigate the medical funding industry, after a Reuters investigation revealed that private investors are funding operations for women who have sued makers of pelvic mesh implants. The American Tort Reform Assn. and DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar told Reuters this week that […]
No retrial for Ethicon in $3m pelvic mesh loss
A federal judge today shot down a bid by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon to overturn a $3.3 million judgment in a pelvic mesh product liability lawsuit and denied the company’s move for a new trial. A jury in the U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia awarded Jo Huskey and her husband damages of […]
Investors profit by funding surgery for desperate pelvic mesh patients
(Reuters) — In July 2013, California urogynecologist Andrew Cassidenti received an email from an entrepreneur named Otto Fisher, who had a proposition. Fisher was looking for surgeons to perform operations to remove pelvic mesh implants from women. Intrigued, Cassidenti responded. In a phone call, Fisher said he needed doctors to operate at outpatient centers in California […]