After six days of trial, a federal judge in West Virginia last week dismissed a woman’s lawsuit against Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, over allegations that Ethicon pelvic mesh products were defective, causing the plaintiff’s pain and suffering.
United States District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin found that the plaintiff could not prove that the TVT sling, which was implanted to treat incontinence, was improperly designed. Earlier in the proceedings, he excluded evidence related to the plaintiff’s claim that Ethicon breached its duty to warn, despite accusations that it destroyed or lost documents material to the claims of the thousands of women believed to have been harmed by the transvaginal mesh (TVM) devices. You can learn more about TVM products and the injuries they cause by clicking here.
The Charleston Gazette reports that some 10,000 vaginal mesh cases have been filed against Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon, with another 40,000 actions pending against other TVM manufacturers such as The Neomedic Company, Mentor Corporation, Gynecare, C.R. Bard, Boston Scientific, and American Medical Systems. Those cases have been centralized in Judge Goodwin’s court.
The case dismissed last week was the first bellwether trial against J&J and Ethicon; the next trial involving Ethicon is scheduled for June 2014.
Sommers Schwartz attorney Jason Thompson represents approximately 200 women injured by TVM products, including Ethicon devices.
Jason J. Thompson
Jason Thompson is a nationally board certified trial attorney and co-chairs Sommers Schwartz’s Complex Litigation Department. He has a formidable breadth of litigation experience, including class action and multidistrict litigation (MDL), and practices nationwide in both state and federal courts.
