A jury in Bakersfield, California, has returned a $5.7 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Ethicon Inc., after finding that Ethicon’s TVT Abbrevo transvaginal mesh device was defectively designed and that Ethicon failed to warn doctors of the risks associated with the product.
The lead plaintiff in the case, Coleen Perry, a retired caterer, was implanted with the TVT Abbrevo system in 2011 to treat stress urinary incontinence. Within one year of implantation, Mrs. Perry was forced to undergo surgery to remove portions of the mesh after she experienced numerous complications, including chronic pelvic pain, dyspareunia, mesh erosion, and scar tissue formation. As reported by Mrs. Perry’s counsel, despite the surgery, she still suffers from “continued and worsening incontinence, in addition to permanent, debilitating pain.”
Mrs. Perry’s trial, which commenced on January 26, 2015, was the first concerning the TVT Abbrevo device. Following over a month of trial and more than three days of deliberations, on March 5, 2015, the jury of 12 sitting in Kern County Superior Court, awarded Mrs. Perry and her husband $700,000 in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon plan to appeal the verdict. Accordingly, in an article published byBloomberg Business, Ethicon proclaimed that the “evidence showed the TVT Abbrevo midurethral sling was properly designed and Ethicon acted appropriately and responsibly in the research, development and marketing of the product.”
This is the fourth plaintiffs’ victory in over 25,000 claims brought in state and federal courts against Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon pertaining to Ethicon’s transvaginal mesh devices.
The case is: Perry, et al. v. Luu, et al., Case No. 5-1500-CV-279123 (Cal. Superior Ct., Kern County).
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