Johnson And Johnson to Pay in Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit

The jury agreed that Johnson & Johnson was not forthcoming about the risks involved.

A New Jersey jury ruled in favor of a woman who filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Ethicon, when she sustained injuries from a vaginal mesh product made by the company. On February 28, 2013 a jury decided that Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest seller of healthcare products, was responsible for paying damages to her. 4,000 lawsuits have been filed over Johnson & Johnson’s pelvic mesh products and 2,100 have been consolidated in New Jersey.

The month-long trial ended with a jury verdict that $3.35 million in compensatory damages should be awarded to her, and to that the jury added $7.76 million in punitive damages as well. The decision to punish Johnson & Johnson for gross negligence came from the allegations that the company was aware of the defects in the device it sold, and the possibility of harm that the product put the patient at risk of – pain, scarring, perforation and organ damage. According to these allegations, Johnson & Johnson had knowledge of the possibility of these painful and serious side effects caused by their product, but chose to fraudulently mislead patients and doctors of these risks.

In her lawsuit she said that after surgery to implant the vaginal mesh device as treatment for pelvic organ prolapse, she experienced constant pain and had to have 18 additional surgeries to fix the damage done and remove the device. The jury agreed that Johnson & Johnson was not forthcoming about the risks involved in using their vaginal mesh device and failed to disclose these risks to the woman’s surgeon before the surgery. The jury chose to punish Johnson & Johnson with punitive damages because they chose to put profits before the well-being of people looking for treatment.

The results of these vaginal mesh lawsuits are being watched closely as there are many more vaginal mesh manufacturers who could be affected by these precedents.

Many women have been seriously harmed by these devices, made by many different manufacturers, yet some still continue to make the devices, ignoring the warnings by the FDA that vaginal mesh devices may not be safe or effective as a treatment option for pelvic organ prolapse.

Missouri and Illinois Transvaginal Mesh Complications

If you have experienced vaginal mesh complications, contact an attorney who specializes in transvaginal mesh liability cases. Contact a vaginal mesh lawyer as soon as possible in order to move forward with your case against a transvaginal mesh device manufacturer. If fraud or negligence was a component in your case, you may be entitled to compensatory damages and the manufacturer may have to pay punitive damages as well.

Contact the Zevan and Davidson Law Firm for a free and private consultation by calling (314) 588-7200 or by filling out our online contact form.