Punitive damages! Transvaginal Mesh (TVM) just crossed the reckless threshold! That is a huge win for us! It is also the third multimillion-dollar win for the TVM trial teams throughout the USA.
Last week a West Virginia jury found Boston Scientific guilty of “gross negligence” in the third trial win in a row for TVM plaintiff lawyers. Similar to the last Bellwether TVM trial in Miami, there were four plaintiffs in this third case as well. The product in question is called “Obtryx” and is primarily used to help women with urinary incontinence. At this point, it is well established that the device was not only rushed to market but was manufactured using polypropylene. Polypropylene is not supposed to be used for long-term implementation in humans! Then the company intentionally hid the negative scientific information which their own scientists found so that the doctors who were implanting the Obtryx device in these poor women would continue to do so.
If you recall, two weeks ago my buddy Joseph Osborne, Esq. also won a four plaintiff Transvaginal Mesh jury trial to the tune of $26.7 million dollars in Miami. That jury did not determine it was a gross negligence matter and therefore did not award punitive damages.
Earlier this year a Texas jury awarded $73 million. The judge reduced that award to $34 million.
The evidence continues to get better for plaintiffs with each trial. Boston Scientific thought they were going to win way more of these matters because the first two trials were verdicts for Boston Scientific. What they did not realize was how important that testimony was in the development of the trials to come for the plaintiffs. It is now obvious that the first two trials were tester cases and discovery bonanzas for the plaintiffs!
This West Virginia trial was a similar trial to the Miami trial in that it took a 10-day trial. At the end of the trial, the jury awarded each of the four women $3.25 million to $4.25 million for their injuries. Then on top of the award, the jury agreed that Boston Scientific was guilty of “gross negligence”! The jury awarded each woman an additional $1 million in punitive damages. Not only is the product defective, but it is so defective that it was virtually reckless in the way Boston Scientific allowed it to be used in the human body. The past two verdicts are hurting Boston Scientific stock. If they do not quickly come to amass settlement I am confident we will continue to hit them with multimillion-dollar verdicts. Keep in mind there are more than 24,000 of these TVM cases in U.S. courts, all against Boston Scientific.
Boston Scientific is not the only company embroiled in Transvaginal Mesh litigation. There are actually seven other defendants. They include Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon, Inc. and CR Bard. Altogether there are more than 60,000 filed TVM lawsuits already filed in the courts, and that number is bound to grow.
If you or a loved one have had TVM implanted you need medical attention and legal care. Get the care you need with the LaBovick Law Group. We are here to serve. Call us for a free case analysis and free medical review assistance.
