Federal Judge Joseph Goodwin, who is presiding over vaginal mesh litigation in the Southern District of West Virginia, ruled that the claimant in a suit against Boston Scientific can proceed with her punitive damages claim. In his order, issued April 13, Judge Goodwin found that Sharon Kay Pelkey sufficiently alleged... Read more »

In late February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in conjunction with the Brookings Institution, released a report detailing a new $250 million, seven-year initiative designed to create a national system of medical device surveillance. The development of such a program is an acknowledgment of the fact that while the... Read more »

A jury in California has awarded a plaintiff $5.7 million after determining Ethicon and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson, did not adequately inform patients of the risks associated with the Gynecare TVT Abbrevo Sling System. The compensatory and punitive damages were awarded to Colleen Perry, who alleged during her... Read more »

A Special Master has been appointed to encourage a transvaginal mesh settlement between manufacturer C.R. Bard and the more than 10,000 plaintiffs who have brought suit against the company over injuries allegedly caused by their mesh products. The lawsuits have been consolidated as part of a multidistrict litigation designed to... Read more »

In what may be a sign of things to come, Johnson & Johnson has recently agreed to settle four cases involving allegedly defective and dangerous vaginal mesh implants, including one matter that was currently at trial stage in Missouri. This represents the first instance in which J&J and its Ethicon... Read more »

Pelvic organ prolapse, or POP, affects many women who’ve had a hysterectomy, are post-menopausal or have had multiple children. The condition is said to affect one-third of all women at some point in their lifetime. Prolapse refers to the sagging or dropping of pelvic floor organs, including the uterus, bladder,... Read more »

More than 60,000 women of varying ages have sought legal recourse for serious injuries and financial hardships attributed to transvaginal mesh devices manufactured to help treat urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Plaintiffs allege that defendants distributed defective products without sufficient trials or warnings about bladder sling problems such as... Read more »

In a bellwether case tried in Miami federal court, jurors found mesh manufacturer Boston Scientific liable for distributing defective devices, and ordered the company to pay more than $26 million. As reported by Reuters, the transvaginal mesh lawsuit award was rendered following a tense eight day trial. Four plaintiffs who... Read more »

After a jury ordered transvaginal mesh manufacturer C.R. Bard to pay a substantial amount to a plaintiff last year, the company began exploring settlement agreements. Now, the company has announced that it has reached an agreement with more than 500 plaintiffs, which is the first large scale effort to settle... Read more »

Damages awarded to the plaintiff in a Boston Scientific mesh verdict last month have been reduced by half in compliance with a Texas statute capping punitive damages. Last month, a Dallas jury determined that plaintiff Martha Salazar should receive approximately $23 million in compensatory damages for the pain and suffering... Read more »