Johnson & Johnson ’ s Ethicon loses $35m pelvic mesh lawsuit

An Indiana jury hit Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon with a $35 million verdict in a product liability lawsuit brought over its Prolift pelvic mesh. Barbara Kaiser and her husband Anton Kaiser sued Ethicon in March 2012, after learning that the Prolift mesh her doctor implanted in 2009 to treat her pelvic organ prolapse might be causing her low pelvic pain. The lawsuit accused J&J and Ethicon of concealing the problems with Prolift, which allegedly include high failure, injury, and complication rates and “frequent and often debilitating re-operations,” according to the Kaiser’s complaint. Prolift “caused severe and irreversible injuries, conditions, and damage to a significant number of women, including plaintiff,” according to the complaint. “Defendants have consistently underreported and withheld information about their Prolift’s propensity to fail and cause injury and complications, and have misrepresented the efficacy and safety of the products through various means and media, actively and intentionally misleading the medical community, patients, and the public at large,” the Kaisers alleged. “Defendants actively and intentionally misled and continue to mislead the public, including the medical community, health care providers, and patients, into believing their Prolift is safe and effective, leading to the prescription for, and implantation of, their Prolift into plaintiff, Barbara Kaiser, and ...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Legal News Product Liability Women's Health Ethicon johnsonandjohnson Pelvic Mesh Lawsuits Source Type: news