Johnson & Johnson (J&J), in their first effort to address the over 40,000 suits it faces for allegedly harming women with their vaginal mesh, agreed to pay more than $120 million to resolve 2,000 to 3,000 of these suits. The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company had previously resolved only a handful of vaginal mesh suits.
Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit Help
The Weinberg Law Firm, based in New Brunswick, NJ, is currently assisting women who have been injured by vaginal mesh products. Mr. Weinberg currently serves as local counsel for more than 400 vaginal mesh cases pending in New Jersey State Court. Filed against vaginal mesh manufacturers C. R. Bard and Johnson & Johnson, these cases were consolidated in New Jersey Superior Court in Atlantic County, and recently moved to Bergen County.
If you have experienced complications following a vaginal mesh surgery, and would like a free vaginal mesh lawsuit evaluation, please call The Weinberg Law Firm toll free at 1-877-934-6274 or visit Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit. Let us help you take the first steps toward seeking compensation for your injuries.
The Risks Concerning Vaginal Mesh Products
Vaginal mesh products are used to address pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when the muscles and tissue of the pelvic floor become stretched, torn or weakened and can no longer support pelvic organs such as the bladder, bowel or uterus; as a result, the organs drop from their normal position and bulge (prolapse) into the vagina. To correct this, a mesh may be implanted into the vagina to reinforce the pelvic floor to correct this prolapse.
Based on safety data and a review of the scientific literature, the FDA concluded that: serious adverse events related to the use of vaginal mesh for repair of POP are not rare, and it is not clear that transvaginal pelvic organ prolapse repair with mesh is more effective than traditional non-mesh repair and it may expose patients to greater risk.
Vaginal Mesh Injuries
Reported vaginal mesh adverse events include organ perforation, bleeding, chronic pain, mesh exposure or extrusion into the vagina and/or visceral organs, infection, atypical vaginal discharge, painful sexual intercourse, self-catheterization, recurrent prolapse and/or incontinence, additional corrective surgery, and other permanent and/or life-altering adverse events.
The J&J Mesh Settlement
As of January 27, 2016, J&J reported $141 million in total vaginal mesh lawsuit expenses in 2015; this is a decrease from $1.2 billion in 2014 legal costs and $2.2 billion in 2013. J&J has said it does not consider the financial risk from the vaginal mesh lawsuits to be “material”.
Litigation regarding vaginal mesh injuries began in 2011, in at least 100,000 suits against more than a half-dozen device makers, including Boston Scientific Corp. and C.R. Bard. J&J faces the most cases in the vaginal mesh litigation.
