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Engleman Trial
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J&J Is Ordered to Pay $20 Million Over Defective Vaginal Mesh
Apr 28, 2017 | Bloomberg Terminal
By Jef Feeley
hnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $20 million to a New Jersey woman who blames the company’s vaginal-mesh inserts for leaving her in constant pain as the company prepares for a new wave of trials over the medical devices. -
J&J Hit With $20M Pelvic Mesh Verdict In Philly
Apr 28, 2017 | Law360
By Dan Packel
A Pennsylvania state jury hit Johnson & Johnson on Friday with a $20 million verdict over injuries suffered by a New Jersey woman after receiving a vaginal mesh implant, the third consecutive eight-figure award against Johnson & Johnson in the pelvic mesh mass tort program in Philadelphia County court. -
J&J Hit With $20M Verdict in Third Pelvic Mesh Trial
Apr 28, 2017 | Legal Intelligencer
By Zack Needles
A 12-member Philadelphia jury handed up a $20 million verdict—including $17.5 million in punitive damages—against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon in the third pelvic mesh case to go to trial in the city. -
Philadelphia jury awards $20M to Cinnaminson woman in pelvic-mesh trial
Apr 28, 2017 | Philadelphia Inquirer
By Chris Mondics
A Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury has awarded $20 million to a Cinnaminson woman who charged that a vaginal-mesh product made by Johnson & Johnson failed to work as advertised, caused her chronic pain, and necessitated multiple corrective surgeries. -
Jury delivers $20 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in local vaginal mesh case
Apr 28, 2017 | WTXF-FOX (Philadelphia, PA)
On Friday, April 28, a jury handed down a $20 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson for injuries suffered by a New Jersey woman after being implanted with a vaginal mesh device. -
Jury Hands Down $20 Million Verdict Against Johnson & Johnson Over Woman’s Vaginal Mesh Implant Injuries
Apr 28, 2017 | KYW-CBS (Philadelphia, PA)
A jury ruled that Johnson & Johnson needs to shell out millions for a New Jersey woman who suffered serious injuries after being implanted with a vaginal mesh device. -
J&J Hit With $20 M Verdict in 3rd Philadelphia Pelvic Mesh Trial
Apr 28, 2017 | Mesh Medical Device News Desk
By Jane Akre
In the last 15 months J&J and its Ethicon medical device division has accrued $34 million in punitive damages over its transvaginal meshes. Another 200 cases await trial in this Philadelphia courtroom. -
Philadelphia Jury Awards $20 Million in Pelvic Mesh Injury Case
Apr 28, 2017 | Lieff Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein
By Lieff Cabraser
A state jury in Pennsylvania has awarded $20 million to a woman who suffered series injuries she alleged related to her vaginal mesh implant. Plaintiff Peggy Engleman’s 2013 lawsuit claimed that the mesh medical device manufactured by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon was defective and that patients receiving the surgical mesh had not been adequately warned of its risks. -
Philadelphia Jury Awards $20 Million against Johnson & Johnson in Vaginal Mesh Case
Apr 28, 2017 | Mass Tort Nexus
By Larry Bodine
A Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas jury returned a $20 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson for injuries suffered by a New Jersey woman after receiving a vaginal mesh device. -
Jury Delivers $20 Million Verdict in Vaginal Mesh Case
Apr 28, 2017 | Kline & Specter
A jury today handed down a $20 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson for injuries suffered by a New Jersey woman after being implanted with a vaginal mesh device. The verdict was the third consecutive eight-figure award against the corporate giant in a mesh case in a Philadelphia courtroom.
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J&J Is Ordered to Pay $20 Million Over Defective Vaginal Mesh
Apr 28, 2017 | Bloomberg Terminal
By Jef Feeley
Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $20 million to a New Jersey woman who blames the company’s vaginal-mesh inserts for leaving her in constant pain as the company prepares for a new wave of trials over the medical devices.
A state-court jury in Philadelphia concluded Friday that J&J’s TVT-Secur mesh, designed to treat incontinence in women, was defectively designed and caused Margaret Engleman’s injuries. The panel awarded her $2.5 million and then hit J&J and its Ethicon unit with $17.5 million in punitive damages.
The verdict is the first against J&J over the vaginal-mesh devices in more than a year. The world’s largest maker of health-care products hasn’t faced any trials while it sought to negotiate settlements in some of the more than 54,000 lawsuits pending over the inserts. The company faces three more trials in Philadelphia in the next two months.
Kristen Wallace, an Ethicon spokeswoman, said the company will appeal the jury’s findings that the devices were defective and that the company failed to provide adequate warnings about the risks.‘Properly Designed’
“We believe the evidence showed Ethicon’s TVT-Secur device was properly designed, Ethicon acted appropriately and responsibly in the research, development and marketing of the product, and TVT-Secur was not the cause of the plaintiff’s continuing medical problems,” Wallace said in an emailed statement.
J&J, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, has lost at least five jury awards totaling more than $35 million over the mesh inserts since 2014. It has settled other cases, including one for as much as $5 million. The company has won several cases, including a 2015 lawsuit in Texas over its Prosima inserts. J&J is appealing some of the plaintiff’s wins.
Carl Tobias, who teaches product liability law at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said J&J should consider a comprehensive settlement to all the cases.
“It would be silly to continue taking these cases to trial when they are losing,” he said in an interview. “There’s no sense in continuing to shell out for the defense costs and suffer the reputation damage that comes with each win by the plaintiffs.”
For more on the lawsuits, click here.
Almost five years ago, J&J voluntarily pulled four lines of mesh inserts, including the TVT-Secur device, off the market after facing a wave of litigation. Ethicon is the J&J unit that sells the mesh.
The decision to stop selling the inserts came six months after regulators ordered J&J and more than 20 other makers of such devices, designed to treat incontinence and shore up weakened pelvic muscles, to conduct further studies about their health risks.
Engleman said the TVT-Secur mesh eroded once it was placed in her body in 2007, forcing her to undergo multiple surgeries to try and remove the mesh. The insert caused her “sharp stabbing pain” and exacerbated her bladder problems, according to court filings.
“I’m happy I could be a voice for other women,” Engleman said Friday in an emailed statement. “It’s been a nightmare.”
The case is Engleman v. Ethicon, No., 05385, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.
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J&J Hit With $20M Pelvic Mesh Verdict In Philly
Apr 28, 2017 | Law360
By Dan Packel
A Pennsylvania state jury hit Johnson & Johnson on Friday with a $20 million verdict over injuries suffered by a New Jersey woman after receiving a vaginal mesh implant, the third consecutive eight-figure award against Johnson & Johnson in the pelvic mesh mass tort program in Philadelphia County court.
Peggy Engleman was awarded $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $17.5 million in punitive damages after a three-week trial. Engleman claimed that a TVT-Secur medical device manufactured by J&J subsidiary Ethicon was defective and that the companies had failed to warn of its risks. TVT stands for trans-vaginal tape.
Engleman, who filed her lawsuit in 2013, had the device implanted in 2007 to relieve stress urinary incontinence, a condition that caused leakage when she coughed or exercised. But she says the TVT-Secur failed within a month and her condition returned. The mesh then began eroding within her body, and doctors were unable to remove it all even after three more surgeries, she claimed.
The 56-year-old New Jersey resident said she now has chronic vaginal pain, pelvic floor spasms and permanent urinary dysfunction.
“I'm happy I could be a voice for other women,” Engleman said in a statement. “It's been a nightmare, and I feel justice was truly served today."
The TVT-Secur product was launched in September 2006, but Engleman’s attorneys said J&J had received numerous reports of high failure rates from countries all over the world.
"This jury sent a strong message today to Johnson & Johnson that they continue to hear in courtrooms across the country — our communities deserve better than these dangerous mesh devices and putting profits before safety will not be tolerated," lead plaintiff’s counsel Benjamin Anderson of Cleveland-based Anderson Law Offices said in a statement.
Two previous trials in Philadelphia argued by Shanin Specter of Kline & Specter PC have already resulted in a pair of damage awards against Ethicon totaling some $26 million. A 2015 case produced a $12.5 million verdict for an Indiana woman and a 2016 case led to a $13.5 million for a New Jersey woman.
The pelvic mesh mass tort program still has 183 cases pending, with the next one is scheduled to go to trial on May 8.
"We empathize with women suffering from stress urinary incontinence, which can be a serious and debilitating condition," said Ethicon spokeswoman Kristen Wallace. "We believe the evidence showed Ethicon’s TVT-Secur device was properly designed, Ethicon acted appropriately and responsibly in the research, development and marketing of the product, and TVT-Secur was not the cause of the plaintiff’s continuing medical problems. Therefore, we are disappointed with today’s verdict and feel we have strong grounds for appeal."
Engleman is represented by Benjamin Anderson of the Anderson Law Offices, Daniel J. Thornburgh of Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz PLLC and Chris Gomez of Kline & Specter PC.
J&J is represented by Kenneth A. Murphy, Melissa A. Merk and Andrew P. Reeve of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Nils Burton Snell of Butler Snow LLP, Julie A. Callsen and Rita A. Maimbourg of Tucker Ellis LLP and James M. Campbell of Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy PC.
The case is Engleman v. Gynecare et al, case number 140305384, in the Court of Common Pleas of the State of Pennsylvania, County of Philadelphia. -
J&J Hit With $20M Verdict in Third Pelvic Mesh Trial
Apr 28, 2017 | Legal Intelligencer
By Zack Needles
A 12-member Philadelphia jury handed up a $20 million verdict—including $17.5 million in punitive damages—against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon in the third pelvic mesh case to go to trial in the city.
It was also the third multimillion-dollar plaintiff's verdict from Philadelphia's pelvic-mesh mass tort program and the latest in a line of megaverdicts against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries across the country over a variety of products.
The verdict in Ethicon v. Engleman, which also included $2.5 million in compensatory damages, was awarded April 28 in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to a New Jersey woman who alleged she suffered life-altering injuries when the mesh eroded inside of her.
Plaintiff Margaret "Peggy" Engleman, of Cinnaminson, New Jersey, alleged in court papers that she had Ethicon's TVT-Secur mesh implanted to help with her stress urinary incontinence, but her doctor discovered erosions in the material just two months later.
Engleman said in her pretrial memorandum that the eroding mesh began causing her pain and she was eventually forced to undergo three separate surgeries, under anesthesia, to remove the material. However, portions of the mesh remain in her body and she has developed chronic pain and urinary dysfunction, according to the memorandum.
Engleman alleged in court papers that TVT-Secur was "defective in design, warnings and instructions" and that Johnson & Johnson released the product to the public despite knowing that there was a significant risk that the mesh would erode inside patients.
Ethicon argued in its own pretrial memorandum that Engleman offered no evidence that the company "failed to warn of risks not within the common knowledge of pelvic floor surgeons."
"Under New Jersey law, a manufacturer has no duty to warn of risks that are within the common knowledge of physicians," the company said in its memorandum.
But Engleman's attorney, Benjamin Anderson of Anderson Law Offices in Cleveland, said he thought the jury turned in his client's favor when a former consultant for Johnson & Johnson learned for the first time, while being cross-examined, about an internal study circulated within the company warning of the dangers of pelvic mesh.
The jury ultimately agreed with the plaintiffs that TVT-Secur mesh was defective in design and that Ethicon failed to adequately warn of its risks.
According to Anderson, the jury unanimously found that the statute of limitations had not expired; 11 of 12 jurors found the mesh was defectively designed while 10 of 12 found that the design defect caused Engleman's injuries; the failure-to-warn verdict was unanimous, as was the failure-to-warn causation finding; 11 of 12 jurors agreed to the $2.5 million compensatory damages award; 10 of 12 agreed that punitive damages should be awarded and 11 of 12 agreed that to the amount of those damages.
"Their punitive damages award is a reflection, we believe, of how despicable this conduct was, how offensive this was," Anderson said.
An Ethicon spokeswoman said in a statement, “We believe the evidence showed Ethicon’s TVT-Secur device was properly designed, Ethicon acted appropriately and responsibly in the research, development and marketing of the product, and TVT-Secur was not the cause of the plaintiff’s continuing medical problems. Therefore, we are disappointed with today’s verdict and feel we have strong grounds for appeal.”
The verdict in Engleman came just over 14 months after a Philadelphia jury unanimously handed up an award of $3.5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages in Carlino v. Ethicon.
Before that, in December 2015, a jury handed up a $12.5 million award to a woman making similar claims about an Ethicon-made pelvic mesh device.
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Philadelphia jury awards $20M to Cinnaminson woman in pelvic-mesh trial
Apr 28, 2017 | Philadelphia Inquirer
By Chris Mondics
A Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury has awarded $20 million to a Cinnaminson woman who charged that a vaginal-mesh product made by Johnson & Johnson failed to work as advertised, caused her chronic pain, and necessitated multiple corrective surgeries.
The award Friday — which included $17.5 million in punitive damages — followed a three-week trial in which the victim’s lawyers argued not only that the mesh was defective, but that Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Ethicon, had concealed the risks of the product even as they were marketing it.
Peggy Engleman, 56, was implanted with the device in 2007 to relieve urinary incontinence. But within a month of surgery, the mesh failed and Engleman’s problems returned. Her lawyers said that she began to experience pain and discomfort when the mesh started to erode inside her body.
Although she has since had multiple surgeries as a result, her physicians have been unable to remove all the shards of mesh that remain in her abdomen, a common complaint about the device.
“I am happy I could be a voice for other women,” Engleman said. “It’s been a nightmare, and I feel justice was truly served today.”
The mesh product used to treat Engleman was launched in September 2006, but by then J&J had already had multiple complaints about it.
Pelvic-mesh implants came into wide use a decade ago for treatment of a condition in which the bladder and other abdominal organs, weakened by childbirth, sag over time, causing incontinence and other problems. Mesh implants, however, appear to cause problems of their own, degrading over time so that pieces of the original implant break off inside the body and pierce organs internally.
Johnson & Johnson faces tens of thousands of additional lawsuits in courts around the country, filed by women who allege that they were harmed by the company’s vaginal-mesh devices.
“The jury spoke, and they sent a message that J&J and Ethicon need to take responsibility,” said attorney Chris Gomez, of Philadelphia-based Kline & Specter, one of the law firms representing Engleman.
Two earlier pelvic-mesh verdicts in Philadelphia against Johnson & Johnson, in 2015 and 2016, resulted in awards of $12.5 million and $13.5 million.
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Jury delivers $20 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in local vaginal mesh case
Apr 28, 2017 | WTXF-FOX (Philadelphia, PA)
On Friday, April 28, a jury handed down a $20 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson for injuries suffered by a New Jersey woman after being implanted with a vaginal mesh device.
The verdict was the third consecutive eight-figure award against the corporate giant in a mesh case in a Philadelphia courtroom.
The award—$2.5 million in compensatory and $17.5 million in punitive damages—for Peggy Engleman, now 56, of Cinnaminson, followed a three-week trial in Common Pleas Court in which her attorneys claimed the TVT-Secur medical device was not only defective but that J&J and its Ethicon subsidiary had failed to warn of its risks, risks they had been well aware of while continuing to market the product.
Engleman was implanted with the device in 2007 to relieve stress urinary incontinence, a leakage caused by things such as exercise or coughing. But within a month the TVT-Secur failed and Engleman's stress urinary incontinence returned.
She began experiencing pain and discomfort when the polypropylene mesh started to erode inside her body. Despite three subsequent surgeries, doctors were unable to remove all the remaining mesh.
As a result, Engleman now suffers chronic vaginal pain and pelvic floor spasms. She also developed permanent urinary dysfunction.
“I'm happy I could be a voice for other women,” Engleman said after the verdict. “It's been a nightmare, and I feel justice was truly served today."
The vaginal mesh product in Engleman’s case, the TVT-Secur, was launched in September 2006 but, as her attorneys noted, J&J had already had numerous reports of high failure rates from countries all over the world.
"This jury sent a strong message today to Johnson & Johnson that they continue to hear in courtrooms across the country—our communities deserve better than these dangerous mesh devices and putting profits before safety will not be tolerated," said lead plaintiff’s counsel Benjamin Anderson.
“The jury made the right decision,” added Thornburgh. “They looked at the evidence and heard the testimony and decided that the company had rushed the product to the market, did woefully inadequate studies and didn’t warn about the risks. So we feel they made the right decision and our client will finally get justice.”
Said Gomez: “The jury spoke and they sent a message that J&J and Ethicon need to take responsibility.”
The verdict was the third straight against a J&J vaginal mesh product in which the plastic-like device eroded inside a patient, leaving shards of mesh that doctors were unable to entirely remove.
The first two cases, in 2015 and 2016 respectively, produced verdicts of $12.5 million for an Indiana woman and $13.5 million for a Toms River, N.J., woman.
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Apr 28, 2017 | KYW-CBS (Philadelphia, PA)
A jury ruled that Johnson & Johnson needs to shell out millions for a New Jersey woman who suffered serious injuries after being implanted with a vaginal mesh device.
The jury awarded 56-year-old Peggy Engleman $20 million — $2.5 million in compensatory and $17.5 in punitive damages – after her attorneys claimed during a three-week trial in Common Pleas Court that the TVT-Secur medical device was not only defective, but that Johnson & Johnson and its Ethicon subsidiary failed to warn of its risks.
Engleman had the device implanted in her in 2007 in an effort to relieve stress urinary incontinence. However, the implant failed and her condition returned. Attorneys argued that Engleman also began experiencing pain and discomfort when the polypropylene mesh from the implant eroded inside of her. Doctors were unable to remove all the remaining mesh despite three surgeries.
Engleman says she now suffers from chronic vaginal pain and pelvic floor spasms, and has also developed a permanent urinary dysfunction.
“I’m happy I could be a voice for other women,” Engleman said in a statement. “It’s been a nightmare, and I feel justice was truly served today.”
This is the third consecutive eight-figure award against Johnson & Johnson in a mesh case in a Philadelphia courtroom. An Indiana woman received a $12.5 million in a 2015 verdict, and in 2016, a Toms River, New Jersey, woman was awarded $13.5 million.
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J&J Hit With $20 M Verdict in 3rd Philadelphia Pelvic Mesh Trial
Apr 28, 2017 | Mesh Medical Device News Desk
By Jane Akre
In the last 15 months J&J and its Ethicon medical device division has accrued $34 million in punitive damages over its transvaginal meshes. Another 200 cases await trial in this Philadelphia courtroom.
The transvaginal mesh trial of Engleman v. Ethiconconcluded in a Philadelphia court this afternoon with a $20 verdict for Ms. Engleman.
The jury awarded $2.5 million in compensatory damages for the complications she suffered from the TVT-Secur transvaginal tape used to treat incontinence. Jurors also hit Ethicon with $17.5 million, the highest amount of punitive damages awarded so far from the transvaginal mesh cases heard in this court.
Jurors decided TVT-Secur was defectively designed and the instructions were inadequate and the device maker failed to warn the doctors and patients about its potential dangers.
The TVT-Secur is a polypropylene mesh “hammock” that cradles the urethra to treat incontinence. It is tethered in place with two arms that extend up through the buttocks.
TVT-S was cleared for market in 2006 without any clinical trials through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 510(k) clearance process.
It was removed from the market voluntarily by J&J in mid-2012 along with three other problematic pelvic meshes. The company said it was for financial reasons.
The Engleman v. Ethicon case began April 10 before Judge Arnold New in the Philadelphia Court of Common pleas. It was the first transvaginal mesh trial in this court in 14 months.
Ms. Engleman was represented by Lee Balefsky of Kline Specter, Ben Anderson of Anderson Law. Representing Johnson & Johnson/ Ethicon was Butler Snow of Ridgeland, Mississippi.
This is the third in a series of Johnson & Johnson losses in the Philadelphia court of Common Pleas.
In the previous cases, Hammons and Carlino, heard in the same court in December 2015 and February 2016 delivered a $12.5 million verdict and $13.5 million, respectively which included $17 million in punitive damages.
With today’s verdict, J&J is facing $34.5 million in punitive damages from three transvaginal mesh trials recently heard in this court.
Testimony for the plaintiff included Dr. Uwe Klinge who told jurors that polyproplylene mesh will degrade, fray and lose particles. No information was included in this case about the role the Food and Drug Administration plays in clearing transvaginal mesh for market through the fast-track 510(k) approval process.
The Philadelphia Court has nearly 200 transvaginal mesh cases waiting to heard primarily naming defendants Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific. There are 102,000 product liability lawsuits consolidated in federal court in Charleston, West Virginia naming six defendant mesh makers, J&J and Boston Scientific among them.
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Philadelphia Jury Awards $20 Million in Pelvic Mesh Injury Case
Apr 28, 2017 | Lieff Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein
By Lieff Cabraser
A state jury in Pennsylvania has awarded $20 million to a woman who suffered series injuries she alleged related to her vaginal mesh implant. Plaintiff Peggy Engleman’s 2013 lawsuit claimed that the mesh medical device manufactured by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon was defective and that patients receiving the surgical mesh had not been adequately warned of its risks.
As reported by Law360 (subscription), Ms. Engleman had received the trans-vaginal mesh to relieve the condition of stress urinary incontinence, but her case alleged that in less than a month after implantation the mesh failed and her condition returned. The mesh then began to erode inside her body, and her doctors were unable to extract all the mesh despite three subsequent surgical attempts.
Two previous trials against J&J led to damage awards against Ethicon of approximately $26 million combined. The company faces over 180 more lawsuits that are part of Philadelphia’s pelvic mesh mass tort program, with the next trial scheduled for early May. About 70,000 transvaginal mesh injury cases have been filed against pelvic surgical mesh manufacturers nationwide.
Transvaginal mesh was marketed by medical manufacturers as a product that could surpass old treatment methods for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in terms of efficacy and affordability. However, many patients have experienced symptoms including mesh erosion, urinary problems, such as incontinence, infection, pain, and vaginal scarring.
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Philadelphia Jury Awards $20 Million against Johnson & Johnson in Vaginal Mesh Case
Apr 28, 2017 | Mass Tort Nexus
By Larry Bodine
A Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas jury returned a $20 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson for injuries suffered by a New Jersey woman after receiving a vaginal mesh device.
The verdict was the third consecutive eight-figure award against J&J in a mesh case in the Philadelphia courts.
The award—$2.5 million in compensatory and $17.5 million in punitive damages—was recovered by Peggy Engleman, 56, of Cinnaminson, PA. She charged that the Ethicon TVT-Secur medical device was defective and that the company failed to warn of its risks, and continued to market the device while they knew about the damage it caused to patients.
In related litigation:
The Philadelphia pelvic mesh mass tort docket has 183 cases pending, with the next one scheduled to go to trial on May 8.
4th Circuit Finds Evidence Sufficient to Uphold $3.27M Ethicon Pelvic Mesh Verdict
32,370 lawsuits are filed against J&J in Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation in MDL 2327 supervised by US District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia in Charleston.
Polypropylene mesh erodes
Doctors implanted the device into Engleman in 2007 to relieve stress urinary incontinence, a leakage caused by exercise or coughing. But within a month the TVT-Secur failed and Engleman’s stress urinary incontinence returned.
She began to suffer pain and discomfort when the polypropylene mesh started to erode inside her body. Doctors were unable to remove it all even after three more surgeries. As a result, Engleman now suffers chronic vaginal pain and pelvic floor spasms. She also developed permanent urinary dysfunction.
The TVT-Secur vaginal mesh product was introduced in September 2006 but J&J had already had many reports of high failure rates from countries all over the world.
“This jury sent a strong message today to Johnson & Johnson that they continue to hear in courtrooms across the country—our communities deserve better than these dangerous mesh devices and putting profits before safety will not be tolerated,” lead plaintiff’s counsel Benjamin Anderson told Fox 29.
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Jury Delivers $20 Million Verdict in Vaginal Mesh Case
Apr 28, 2017 | Kline & Specter
A jury today handed down a $20 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson for injuries suffered by a New Jersey woman after being implanted with a vaginal mesh device. The verdict was the third consecutive eight-figure award against the corporate giant in a mesh case in a Philadelphia courtroom.
The award -- $2.5 million in compensatory and $17.5 million in punitive damages – for Peggy Engleman, now 56, of Cinnaminson, followed a three-week trial in Common Pleas Court in which her attorneys claimed the TVT-Secur medical device was not only defective but that J&J and its Ethicon subsidiary had failed to warn of its risks, risks they had been well aware of while continuing to market the product.
Engleman was implanted with the device in 2007 to relieve stress urinary incontinence, a leakage caused by things such as exercise or coughing. But within a month the TVT-Secur failed and Engleman's stress urinary incontinence returned. She began experiencing pain and discomfort when the polypropylene mesh started to erode inside her body. Despite three subsequent surgeries, doctors were unable to remove all the remaining mesh.
As a result, Engleman now suffers chronic vaginal pain and pelvic floor spasms. She also developed permanent urinary dysfunction.
“I'm happy I could be a voice for other women,” Engleman said after the verdict. “It's been a nightmare, and I feel justice was truly served today."
The vaginal mesh product in Engleman’s case, the TVT-Secur, was launched in September 2006 but, her attorneys noted, J&J had already had numerous reports of high failure rates from countries all over the world.
"This jury sent a strong message today to Johnson & Johnson that they continue to hear in courtrooms across the country - our communities deserve better than these dangerous mesh devices and putting profits before safety will not be tolerated," said lead plaintiff’s counsel Benjamin Anderson, of the Cleveland-based Anderson Law Offices, who tried the case along with Daniel J. Thornburgh, of Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis and Overholtz, PLLC, of Pensacola, Fla., and Chris Gomez of Philadelphia-based Kline & Specter, PC.
“The jury made the right decision,” added Thornburgh. “They looked at the evidence and heard the testimony and decided that the company had rushed the product to the market, did woefully inadequate studies and didn’t warn about the risks. So we feel they made the right decision and our client will finally get justice.”
Said Gomez: “The jury spoke and they sent a message that J&J and Ethicon need to take responsibility.”
The verdict was the third straight against a J&J vaginal mesh product in which the plastic-like device eroded inside a patient, leaving shards of mesh that doctors were unable to entirely remove. The first two cases, in 2015 and 2016 respectively, produced verdicts of $12.5 million for an Indiana woman and $13.5 million for a Toms River, N.J., woman. The plaintiffs lead attorney in those cases was Shanin Specter, also of Kline & Specter.
For more information contact Ben Anderson at Ben@andersonlawoffices.net or 216-513-8755; Daniel Thornburgh at dthornburgh@awkolaw.com or 850-776-7788; or Chris Gomez at chris.gomez@klinespecter.com or 215-772-1000
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