Monday, September 21, 2015

J&J Faces Pelvic Mesh Liability Trial in Dallas // Law 360

J&J Pelvic Device Gets 1st Court Test In Dallas Trial - Law360

Law360, Dallas (September 18, 2015, 7:51 PM ET) -- A pelvic mesh device made byJohnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Inc. unit to treat pelvic organ prolapse will get its first courtroom test on Monday, as Dallas jurors are set to hear a trial alleging the Gynecare Prosima Pelvic Floor Repair System was defectively designed.

The case is a rematch of sorts for the plaintiffs’ lawyers and J&J after an April 2014 trial before the same Dallas district court judge ended in a $1.2 million verdict and a finding Ethicon’s TVT-O pelvic mesh device had been defectively designed.

Most of the litigation involving Ethicon's pelvic mesh products, including the handful of cases that have previously reached trial, focused on the TVT family of devices, used to treat stress urinary incontinence. The Prosima is a treatment for pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when the supportive muscles and tissues of the pelvis become weak and causes the organs inside the pelvis to drop from their natural positions.

The suit claims the Prosima device was unreasonably dangerous, not reasonably safe for its intended use and that alternative and safer devices were available. The suit also claims J&J and Ethicon failed to warn patients of the dangers and risk associated with the pelvic mesh products.

Here, Law360 takes a look at what’s at issue in the suit and reviews J&J’s history of wins and losses in pelvic mesh cases around the country.

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