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Ethicon 5/30
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The story of Sling The Mesh journalist is used to educate surgeons around the world in a cutting edge gynaecology conference
May 28, 2016 | Wisbech Standard
By Kath Sansom
Dr Natalia Price, of John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, included Kath’s story when she gave a presentation on how to manage complications and chronic pain following slings implanted in women suffering incontinence. -
California Attorney General takes action against Johnson & Johnson
May 27, 2016 | Legal NewsLine
By Mark Iandolo
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced that her office has taken action against Johnson & Johnson (J&J), suing the company for alleged false advertising and deceptive marketing of its surgical mesh products for women. -
Philly law firm seeks to dismiss breach of contract claims from vaginal mesh trial consultant
May 27, 2016 | Penn Record
By Nicholas Malfitano
A Philadelphia-based law firm that was recently sued by a urogynecologist from Melbourne, Fla., for two forms of breach of contract and unjust enrichment is seeking to dismiss the claims associated with that complaint.
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May 28, 2016 | Wisbech Standard
By Kath Sansom
Dr Natalia Price, of John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, included Kath’s story when she gave a presentation on how to manage complications and chronic pain following slings implanted in women suffering incontinence.
Within 24 hours a woman on Sling The Mesh Facebook group was contacted by her own surgeon who saw the “fantastic presentation.”
The surgeon had previously been pro mesh and anti corrective surgery removal but having seen the talk had changed their mind, the woman said.
On Wednesday (June 1) it will be a year since Sling The Mesh was launched.
Ms Price gave a 20 minute talk on managing mesh problems as part of a masterclass in urogynaecology in what organisers describe as a cutting edge world conference.
Afterwards there was round the table discussion at the three day world congress of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in Birmingham.
Kath said: “Knowing my story has been told to surgeons who are implanting mesh is a good step towards the medical world recognising the real problems suffered by women.
“This is a major conference and I hope the ripple effects will continue in the coming days, weeks and months.”
Ms Price’s talk was held in the same week that two American states filed lawsuits against Johnson and Johnson saying the company duped doctors into believing mesh was safe, knowing it could cause life long pain and loss of sex lives.
Also in the same week members of the European Parliament agreed to tighten regulations on passing medical devices for use in patients following the problems with PIP breast implants and metal on metal hip implants.
Currently new products can be passed for approval in Europe on the basis of equivalence - which means a new device does not need strict testing, makers simply have to prove it is similar to something already on the market.
The mesh used in gynaecology is the same material used in hernia repairs. Last week the first hernia mesh lawsuit was filed by a New Orleans man who says he has lost his sex life and suffers daily pain.
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said it was difficult to put into words the “horrific injuries and pain” many women were suffering.
Patients believed they were making informed medical decisions, he said, but that was impossible when Johnson and Johnson was “essentially duping doctors into using their own patients as clinical trials.”
The attorney general for California, Kamala Harris, said as a result of mesh thousands of women were suffering irreversible complications including pain, repeated infections, nerve damage and an end to their sex lives.
J and J denies it did anything wrong and calls the lawsuits unjustified because they say they acted appropriately and responsibly in the marketing of pelvic mesh.
http://www.wisbechstandard.co.uk/news/the_story_of_sling_the_mesh_journalist_is_used_to_educate_surgeons_around_the_world_in_a_cutting_edge_gynaecology_conference_1_4554043
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California Attorney General takes action against Johnson & Johnson
May 27, 2016 | Legal NewsLine
By Mark Iandolo
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced that her office has taken action against Johnson & Johnson (J&J), suing the company for alleged false advertising and deceptive marketing of its surgical mesh products for women.
The lawsuit claims that the company failed to warn both patients and doctors of possible severe complications. California led a coalition of 46 states and the District of Columbia in the case. The coalition seeks injunctive relief and monetary penalties that will ensure J&J stops its alleged practices.
“Johnson & Johnson put millions of women at risk of severe health problems by failing to provide critical information to doctors and patients about its surgical mesh products,” Harris said. “Johnson & Johnson’s deception denied women the ability to make informed decisions about their health and well-being. My office will continue to hold companies accountable for misleading consumers and patients for financial gain.”
Surgical mesh is used to treat common health problems for women. These problems include stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. J&J sold 787,322 of these devices nationally between 2008 and 2014. This included 42,000 in California.
http://legalnewsline.com/stories/510745250-california-attorney-general-takes-action-against-johnson-johnson
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Philly law firm seeks to dismiss breach of contract claims from vaginal mesh trial consultant
May 27, 2016 | Penn Record
By Nicholas Malfitano
A Philadelphia-based law firm that was recently sued by a urogynecologist from Melbourne, Fla., for two forms of breach of contract and unjust enrichment is seeking to dismiss the claims associated with that complaint.
On May 17, Elizabeth H. Faiella, counsel for defendant Kline & Specter, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by plaintiff Ralph Zipper M.D for failure to state a claim – based on Zipper’s supposedly not being able to “proceed under both breach of contract and quasi-contract unjust enrichment and quantum meruit theories of liability.”
“Under Pennsylvania law, quantum meruit and unjust enrichment cannot be predicated on an express contract,” Faiella said. “Plaintiff’s unjust enrichment and quantum meruit claims must therefore fail as a matter of Pennsylvania law, and should be dismissed.”
Though the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida has subject matter jurisdiction in the suit, Faiella further argued substantive Pennsylvania law should apply in this matter, as the substance of Zipper’s claims took place in Pennsylvania.
“In disputes over performance of a contract, the law that applies is that of the state where the contract was to be performed – the so-called lex loci solutionis rule,” Faiella said.
Faiella charged Zipper with performing “excessive and unauthorized” work associated with several vaginal mesh trials he was hired to consult on, and wrote Kline & Specter was “unwilling” to reimburse Zipper for those unnecessary services totaling $250,150, over the course of three submitted invoices.
Back on April 27, Zipper (doing business as Zipper Urogynecology Associates) filed a lawsuit against Kline & Specter, alleging the firm breached its contract with him by failing to pay him fully for services rendered as an expert witness and consultant in Philadelphia-based vaginal mesh trials.
Zipper’s practice specializes in urogynecology, which is “the treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction in women which includes, but is not limited to, the treatment of stress urinary incontinence and pelvic floor prolapse and care for complications from vaginal mesh procedures.”
Zipper asserts his longtime experience in training doctors on the use of vaginal mesh and treatment of patients with urogynecological health issues has caused him to be tapped as an expert physician witness in numerous vaginal mesh trials. Zipper claims he has written more than 20 specific case opinions and four general opinions on vaginal mesh litigation.
Kline & Specter represents women who suffered injuries as a result of vaginal mesh products in litigation against the mesh manufacturers.
Prior to May 2015, Zipper says Kline & Specter contacted him to act as a consultant and expert witness in a case it brought in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of client Patricia Hammons against Ethicon, Inc., and to perform work related to the cases of three other female plaintiffs who filed vaginal mesh product-related claims.
Per their oral agreement, Kline & Specter reportedly agreed to pay Zipper a rate of $700 per hour for services to assist with the Hammons case, and $2,500 for each medical examination performed on Kline & Specter’s clients who filed similar litigation.
Later, counsel for Kline & Specter says it agreed on flat fees with Zipper of $10,000 for depositions, and $5,950 per day for trial testimony.
Zipper says he was instructed to submit invoices for these costs to the Florida firm of Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz.
Zipper began his expert consulting in May 2015 and participated in a deposition for the Hammons case at his office that September, which proceeded to trial in December. Over the course of these proceedings, Zipper avers he continually submitted invoices for payments for his services.
Lead counsel on the Hammons case and Kline & Specter senior partner, Shanin Specter, wrote Zipper an e-mail in December where he described Zipper's trial preparation as both “extraordinary” and “well beyond anything I’ve seen in the 32 years I’ve practiced law.”
On Dec. 23, a jury entered a verdict in Hammons’ favor for $12.5 million.
According to Faiella, Kline & Specter withdrew its appearance for each of the three other separate plaintiffs aside from Hammons.
Zipper argued Kline & Specter paid him a total of $147,900 for his services and $608.27 for his expenses associated with the Hammons case, with an alleged amount of $250,150 plus interest from Dec. 15 of last year still outstanding from his work on the Hammons case and that of the three other female plaintiffs.
Zipper filed suit for breach of oral contract, unjust enrichment, quantum meruit and breach of implied-in-fact contract against Kline & Specter.
The plaintiff is seeking damages for services rendered of $250,150, plus interest from Dec. 15 to the present, court costs and other relief in this case.
Attorneys from Kline & Specter had no comment regarding Zipper’s litigation.
The plaintiff is represented by Bradley Jacob Anderson and J. Timothy Schulte of Zimmerman Kiser & Sutcliffe in Orlando, Fla.
The defendant is represented by James J. Waldenberger of Kline & Specter in Philadelphia, and Faiella of Faiella & Gulden in Winter Park, Fla.
http://pennrecord.com/stories/510741630-philly-law-firm-seeks-to-dismiss-breach-of-contract-claims-from-vaginal-mesh-trial-consultant
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