Following a decision to award of $3.35 million for compensatory damages in the first vaginal mesh case to come to trial, the same jury awarded $7.76 million in punitive damages for a total award of $11.1 million. Johnson & Johnson stated that it will appeal the jury’s verdict in this defective medical device trial.
Prior to removal from the market in 2012, the Johnson & Johnson vaginal mesh was used to treat pelvic organ collapse. Currently, more than 1,800 lawsuits are pending against Johnson & Johnson in New Jersey. An additional 11,000 suits are pending in the federal district court in West Virginia against other manufacturers of the defective medical device.
Following the jury’s punitive damage award, the plaintiff’s attorney stated that the jury found that Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon “should be severely punished financially.”
For more information, contact the Ohio transvaginal surgical mesh attorneys at Clark, Perdue & List.
Source: Reuters, “Jury awards woman $7.76 million in damages for J&J mesh,” Dave Warner and Ransdell Pierson, February 28, 2013.