Preview Newsletter
Ethicon 2/15
-
Jury docks Johnson & Johnson $14m in pelvic mesh lawsuit
Feb 12, 2016 | Mass Device
By Bradd Perriello
A jury in Philadelphia this week reportedly docked Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon $13.5 million in the 2nd case involving its pelvic mesh products to go to trial in a mass tort in The City of Brotherly Love. -
J&J Hit With Verdict In Second Pelvic-Mesh Case
Feb 13, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer
A Philadelphia jury handed up a $13.5 million award to a woman claiming she was permanently injured from a pelvic-mesh device that eroded inside her. -
Women Plan Rally As Jury Rules J&J Will Pay $13.5M for Mesh Verdict
Feb 12, 2016 | Drugwatch
By Michelle Llamas
A Philadelphia jury ruled in favor of a woman in the second transvaginal mesh trial against Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon subsidiary since December. Now, women advocating against mesh plan to rally to support other plaintiffs at the next J&J mesh trial in West Virginia.
Client Attorney Privileged/Attorney Work Product/At Request of Counsel
Online Sources
-
Jury docks Johnson & Johnson $14m in pelvic mesh lawsuit
Feb 12, 2016 | Mass Device
By Bradd Perriello
A jury in Philadelphia this week reportedly docked Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon $13.5 million in the 2nd case involving its pelvic mesh products to go to trial in a mass tort in The City of Brotherly Love.
The jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas awarded plaintiff Sharon Carlino $3.5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages, finding that the Ethicon transvaginal polypropylene tape implanted during a 2005 hysterectomy was defective and that the company failed to adequately warn of its risks, The Legal Intelligencer reported. Carlino eventually needed 3 revision surgeries to remove the eroded mesh.
In December 2015, a jury in the same court added $7 million in punitive damages to the $5.5 million in compensatory damages it leveled against Ethicon in the 1st of the mass tort cases to go to trial in Philly.
Carlino’s attorney, Shanin Specter, said the family is thankful for the verdict.
“We hope Johnson & Johnson undertakes a bottom-up review of their conduct in vaginal mesh,” Specter said, according to the newspaper.
“We have strong grounds for appeal,” Ethicon spokeswoman Samantha Lucas said in prepared remarks, the paper reported. “We believe the evidence showed Ethicon’s TVT midurethral sling was properly designed and labeled, Ethicon acted appropriately and responsibly in the research, development and marketing of the product, and TVT was not the cause of the plaintiff’s continuing medical problems.”
-
J&J Hit With Verdict In Second Pelvic-Mesh Case
Feb 13, 2016 | The Legal Intelligencer
Date of Verdict: Feb. 10.
Court and Case No.: C.P. Philadelphia No. 130603470.
Judge: Kenneth J. Powell Jr..
Type of Action: Products liability.
Injuries: Pain during sex.
Plaintiffs Counsel: Shanin Specter and Kila Baldwin, Kline & Specter, Philadelphia; Rich Freese, Freese & Goss, Dallas.
Defense Counsel: Laura H. Smith, Friday, Eldredge & Clark, Little Rock, Arkansas; William Gage, Butler Snow, Jackson, Mississippi.
Plaintiffs experts: Bruce L. Rosenzweig, urogynecologist, Chicago, Ill.; Tom Margolis, urogynecologist, San Francisco, Calif.; Uwe Klinge, surgery and materials expert, Germany.
Defense Counsel: Denise Elser, urogynecologist, Chicago, Ill.; Ellen Conner, urogynecologist, Neptune City, N.J.
Comment: A Philadelphia jury handed up a $13.5 million award to a woman claiming she was permanently injured from a pelvic-mesh device that eroded inside her.
The jury handed up the award in Carlino v. Ethicon on Feb. 10, giving plaintiff Sharon Carlino $3.5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon was the defendant in the case.
The verdict is the second from the pelvic-mesh mass tort program to hit trial in Philadelphia. It is also the second multimillion-dollar plaintiff's victory from the pelvic-mesh cases. In December, a jury handed up a $12.5 million award to a woman making similar claims about an Ethicon-made pelvic-mesh device.
The award in Carlino came after more than two weeks of trial, with Kline & Specter attorneys Shanin Specter and Kila Baldwin, and Rich Freese of Freese & Goss, representing Carlino. Ethicon was represented by William Gage of Butler Snow and Laura H. Smith of Friday, Eldredge & Clark.
Carlino had alleged that the device failed because it was negligently designed in several ways, and that its failure led her to suffer permanent pain during sex.
During his opening statement, Specter told jurors the mesh was defective because its pores are too small, and it also should have been cut using a laser, as opposed to a machine, which can make the edges of the device more friable.
According to Specter, large pores in the mesh allow for new tissue to grow around the synthetic mesh material, but smaller pores lead to inflammation and scar tissue, which, he argued, was at the root of Carlino's injuries.
Specter additionally argued Ethicon failed to tell the treating doctor that the mesh could result in permanent injury.
According to Specter, development of the mesh began in 1996, and the device hit the market in 1998. In 2005, Carlino had the mesh installed to treat her incontinence. During the procedure, she also underwent a hysterectomy.
In 2007, she complained to her doctor about feeling "something sharp" in her vagina, and the doctor found that a portion of the mesh had eroded through her vaginal wall, Specter said.
Carlino underwent a procedure to remove the mesh, and she made a good recovery, according to Specter. However, in 2010, she again reported feeling something sharp in her vagina, and she underwent a second removal surgery.
By late 2012, Carlino again began having discomfort and pain during sex, but according to Specter, the remaining pelvic mesh could not be safely removed.
During her opening statement, Smith denied allegations that the pelvic mesh device was defectively designed, and told the jurors the company is proud of the fact that the device was the first mesh "sling" aimed at treating stress-related incontinence. She told jurors the mesh was the "worldwide gold standard" in treating the stress-related incontinence.
She also contended that Carlino's treating doctor was well trained in installing the mesh, and the doctor had agreed it was the best choice for addressing Carlino's incontinence. Smith further said the treatment was within the standard of care, and one of Carlino's subsequent treating doctors had recommended she have mesh installed again when some incontinence returned after the second removal surgery.
The reason the mesh had to be removed, according to Smith, was because Carlino's vaginal wall had thinned.
For full story go to:
http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com/id=1202749650067/JampJ-Hit-With-Verdict-In-Second-PelvicMesh-Case?slreturn=20160115025017 -
Women Plan Rally As Jury Rules J&J Will Pay $13.5M for Mesh Verdict
Feb 12, 2016 | Drugwatch
By Michelle Llamas
A Philadelphia jury ruled in favor of a woman in the second transvaginal mesh trial against Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon subsidiary since December. Now, women advocating against mesh plan to rally to support other plaintiffs at the next J&J mesh trial in West Virginia.
The Philadelphia plaintiff, Sharon Carlino, said she suffered permanent injuries when the defendant’s transvaginal mesh product eroded inside her. Her lawsuit against J&J’s Ethicon stated the product was defective and caused complications such as permanent pain during sex.
The trial lasted about 2 weeks and the jury awarded Carlino with $3.5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages — damages intended to deter the company from repeating its negligent behavior. Carlino’s attorney, Shanin Specter, said in a statement the Carlino family was happy with the verdict.
“We hope Johnson & Johnson undertakes a bottom-up review of their conduct in vaginal mesh,” Specter told the Legal Intelligencer.
Tammy Jackson, co-founder of the Mesh Awareness Movement (MAM), is hopeful that the momentum in settlements will continue. MAM plans to stage West Virginia rally.
“I believe the last couple verdicts in the J&J cases are a small step forward to where the cases need to be,” she told Drugwatch. “Women are losing jobs, homes and families. They have to be awarded enough, to live on and pay medical bills for the rest of their lives. Women’s Lives matter. We are the glue that holes families together.”
Ethicon Plans to Appeal
Ethicon continues to stand by its product and plans to appeal the verdict, the company said in a statement.
“We have strong grounds for appeal,” said Samantha Lucas, an Ethicon spokeswoman, in the statement. “We believe the evidence showed Ethicon’s TVT midurethral sling was properly designed and labeled, Ethicon acted appropriately and responsibly in the research, development and marketing of the product, and TVT was not the cause of the plaintiff’s continuing medical problems.”
J&J and Ethicon previously took a big trial hit in December 2015 when a Philadelphia jury awarded $12.5 million to another woman who said mesh injured her.
Shortly after the December verdict, Bloomberg reported that J&J offered more than $120 million to settle between 3,000 to 4,000 mesh cases. The company still faces close to 30,000 federal lawsuits and thousands more are pending in state courts.
The next trial takes center stage in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia before Chief Judge Joseph R. Goodwin. Goodwin is in charge of about 80,000 lawsuits in seven different multidistrict litigations involving mesh.
On April 11, 2016, 37 women, whose cases were consolidated into one trial, will face J&J and Ethicon in court.
Tammy Jackson and other women who were injured by mesh plan to show their support for the women by rallying outside the Robert C. Byrd courthouse in West Virginia. Jackson, a Kentucky wife and mother, began her mesh “nightmare” nearly a decade ago when she had an Ethicon Gynecare product implanted to treat mild incontinence. She worked a busy shift as a nurse and noticed she would leak urine while working.
“Doctors told me I should just get this sling. It was an easy outpatient procedure and everything would be fine,” she told Drugwatch.
After the implant, she suffered severe pelvic pain, nerve damage and painful sex, but she never knew it was the mesh. She had to have several surgeries to try and relieve the pain and had to stop working at a job she loved.
“I have to get up three hours before taking my nine-year-old daughter to school because I have to prepare myself for the effort,” said the once active mom.
Jackson and fellow mesh sufferer, Lisa Mason, started MAM as a way to fight back and bring awareness. A passionate advocate, Jackson isn’t shy about speaking out.
She hopes the April rally will bring more awareness. This year, Jackson hopes to bring her daughter because “mesh affects entire families.” She invites all supporters to come join her in West Virginia.
“Last year, three more women died from mesh complications,” she said. “But, until it hits Washington, no one will pay attention. They want us to remain as invisible as the mesh that is in us, but we’re not going to do that.”
Client Attorney Privileged/Attorney Work Product/At Request of Counsel
Online Sources
Add recipients
Suggested