Jury Returns $3.35 Million Verdict in First Transvaginal Mesh case in New Jersey

I have written on numerous occasions about the way big drug companies are often more interested in the bottom line than in patient safety.

For a blatant example, we need look no further than the case of transvaginal surgical mesh; a harmful device that has now lead to thousands of lawsuits.

In the first phase, a New Jersey jury has returned a $3.35 million verdict against the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson. On February 25, the jury found the drug company failed to adequately warn the woman’s doctor of the dangers of a vaginal mesh implant made by its subsidiary Ethicon.

“The jury also found that the company misrepresented the product in brochures that it furnished to doctors,” reported Reuters.

As many as 1,800 cases are set to be heard in New Jersey with others scheduled for West Virginia.

The recent jury verdict was in favor of nurse Linda Gross who filed a lawsuit following surgery in 2006 to install a Gyncare Prolift for pelvic prolapse. She claimed her surgery led to many painful complications including mesh erosion, inflammation, and scar tissue. It took a staggering 18 surgical procedures to correct the painful damage that was inflicted by this poorly tested product.

The Transvaginal mesh was used to repair pelvic organ prolapse or stress urinary incontinence. In many cases, it caused worse complications.

This is not the only device to cause problems on a massive scale. As well as thousands of Transvaginal mesh cases, defective hip implants have led to mass legal action. A recent engineering report revealed Johnson & Johnson’s orthopedic device unit, DePuy, used “improper engineering controls and standards in evaluating the risks ASR hips may have in patients,” reported the New York Times.

If you have experienced problems with a medical device, you should contact an experienced Virginia Beach defective products attorney.