March 17, 2015 — Law360 reports that a woman who was injured by the TVT Abbrevo vaginal mesh has been awarded $5.7 million by a jury in California.
The woman, Colleen Perry, filed her lawsuit against the manufacturer of the mesh, Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon unit. She was awarded $700,000 in compensation and $5 million in punitive damages.
Ethicon vowed to appeal the verdict, but just days later, they agreed to an undisclosed settlement with another woman who was injured by vaginal mesh. The lawsuit, filed by Diane Bellew, was a so-called “bellwether” trial in a Multi-District Litigation (MDL) in federal court in West Virginia.
Ethicon is still facing over 23,500 vaginal mesh lawsuits in the MDL, according to an update (PDF) yesterday by the court.
The federal judge overseeing the litigation has urged device-makers to “kick it into high gear” or face “potentially billions of dollars in verdicts.” He oversees seven different MDLs involving over 60,000 lawsuits, and the litigation has been dragging on since February 2012.
Manufacturers of vaginal mesh have had some success in defending these lawsuits, but most cases that have gone before a jury have ended in resounding multi-million dollar losses with punitive damages added on to punish manufacturers for negligence.
All of the lawsuits accuse mesh-manufacturers of negligence for failing to warn about the risks associated with the products, including erosion through the vaginal wall, infections, nerve damage, incontinence, chronic pain, disfigurement, and the need for multiple corrective surgeries.
Do I have a Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting vaginal mesh induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by vaginal mesh, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Defective Medical Device Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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