January 15, 2015 — Law360 reports that Johnson & Johnson has evidence that “unscrupulous” individuals are asking women to lie about being injured by vaginal mesh to file a lawsuit.
One unnamed woman from Indiana recorded a phone-call from a solicitor who did not seem to care that she had never actually been implanted with vaginal mesh. The solicitor told the woman she must “tell a lie if you want to get the $30,000 up to $40,000.”
Nonexistent firms like the “U.S. Medical Department,” “American Medical Services,” and “Medical Healthcare” are contacting the women as many as 50 times per month, according to Bloomberg.
Disturbingly, sometimes the strangers on the phone already know the woman’s medical information. In a court filing, J&J stated:
“Women across the nation are receiving unsolicited phone calls from strangers who … try to entice each woman into filing a lawsuit, oftentimes disregarding whether she has an injury or even had a mesh implant at all.”
About 24,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits are currently pending against J&J in a federal Multi-District Litigation (MDL) in West Virginia. J&J asked the federal judge overseeing the litigation to take steps to weed out frivolous claims, such as requiring medical records from plaintiffs and asking attorneys about their solicitations.
Lawyers for the device-maker said they cannot make progress on settlement negotiations until illegitimate claims are tossed out.
Do I have a Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit?
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