Jury finds for Plaintiff in J&J vaginal mesh trial
J&J Failed to Warn of Vaginal Mesh Risks, N.J. Jury Rules
By David Voreacos – Feb 25, 2013 10:28 AM CT.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)‚his Ethicon unit failed to properly warn of the risks of a vaginal mesh implant and made fraudulent misrepresentations to a South Dakota nurse who sued, a New Jersey jury ruled.
Jurors ordered J&J to pay $3.35 million to Linda Gross, the nurse, and her husband. Linda Gross, 47, had 18 operations after the device was implanted.
The jury ruled that J&J, the world‚his biggest seller of health-care products, didn’t defectively design the mesh and didn’t make fraudulent misrepresentations to Gross‚his doctor.
The verdict in state court in Atlantic City came in the first of more than 2,100 lawsuits to go to trial over claims that Ethicon‚his Gynecare Prolift injured women.
Gross claimed that J&J failed to warn her and her doctor of the risks and made fraudulent misrepresentations to her. Her lawyers said company documents and e-mails showed Ethicon knew the mesh would cause pain and harm women. She blamed the mesh for constant pain that makes it hard to sit and for subsequent operations to remove mesh that hardened.
We’ve established during this trial that this is something that never should have been sold, Gross attorney Adam Slater told jurors in his summation on Feb. 15. You had the words of the people at the company saying it shouldn’t have been sold. You saw them talking about that before it ever went on the market, that it was unreasonably dangerous.
J&J claims the Prolift is safe and effective and it warned of the risks.
Our position is that the Prolift is a safe and effective product, that Ethicon adequately warned doctors of the risks, that doctors knew of the risks, J&J attorney Christy Jones said in her closing arguments.
Gross sought $3.38 million for lost earnings and past and future medical expenses. She also sought unspecified damages for pain and suffering.
The case is Gross v. Gynecare Inc., Atl-L-6966-10, Superior Court of Atlantic County, New Jersey (Atlantic City).
To contact the reporter on this story: David Voreacos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net