J&J To Pay $2.6M Over An Australian Pelvic Mesh Case

Introduction

Earlier this month, an Australian court dismissed Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) appeal over a $2.6 million ruling awarded to women who claimed that the company's subsidiary Ethicon misled patients and surgeons about the risks associated with its pelvic mesh implants.

A federal court judge had imposed the initial decision in November 2019, stating that Ethicon failed to warn women about the serious risks and negligently pushed the products into the market without testing.

More than 10,000 women joined the class action, which began in 2012. The trial started in July 2017 and is considered to be one of the largest class actions in Australian history.

J&J was ordered to pay three women who led the class action a total of $2.6 million along with legal costs as compensation. The company appealed the ruling last year and in the recent judgment, the full bench of the Federal Court of Australia upheld the decision.

The company is facing a torrent of similar lawsuits in the U.S. and recently a three-judge appeals panel reversed two verdicts worth $83 million awarded to two women who alleged that they suffered severe complications from pelvic mesh devices manufactured by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its subsidiaries and C.R. Bard, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Around four million women have vaginal mesh implants, and more than 150,000 have alleged complications associated with it. There are in all 7 MDLs to handle Transvaginal Mesh Litigation, overseen by U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia for coordinated discovery and early bellwether trials.

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