Articles Posted in Defective Products

In January of this year, yet another hernia mesh lawsuit was filed against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Ethicon. The lawsuit was filed by Sharon Smith, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

In 2012, Smith’s surgeon repaired her hernia with Ethicon’s Flexible Composite Physiomesh. Unfortunately, the surgical area did not heal well, and Smith says she was in constant pain for the next five years.

During that time, Smith’s quality of life, as well as her financial situation and her relationships, steadily deteriorated. Finally, in 2017, her doctor determined the surgical mesh (Physiomesh) used in the hernia repair was at fault. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia already has a number of hernia mesh cases in multidistrict litigation, with plaintiffs alleging harm from the mesh, including:

Many people believe an MDL lawsuit is essentially the same as a class action lawsuit—a group of injured people who get together and sue the company or manufacturer of the product which caused their injuries.

While this is true to some extent, there are some major—and very important—differences between and MDL lawsuit and a class action lawsuit.

Perhaps the primary difference between an MDL lawsuit and a class action lawsuit, is that a class action lawsuit is essentially one lawsuit with a single outcome. If the class action lawsuit is successful, the settlement amount is split between the plaintiffs, after attorney fees and other costs are deducted.

Pharmaceutical giant, Johnson & Johnson, along with its subsidiary, Ethicon, was recently hit with a $15 million verdict after a woman filed a lawsuit which claimed her chronic, severe pain was the result of J & J’s defectively designed pelvic mesh implant.

Elizabeth Hrymoc was awarded $4 million in compensatory damages, and $10 million in punitive damages, while her husband received $1 million in compensatory damages. The Bergen County, New Jersey jury deliberated for most of one day after three weeks of testimony, arguments and evidence presented by both sides. There are currently almost 9000 pending pelvic mesh lawsuits, and the Hrymoc case was only the second one to make it to trial.

Hrymoc was implanted in 2008 with Ethicon’s Prolift and TVT-O brand mesh devices as a treatment for pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence—common conditions in women who have gone through menopause. Hrymoc, 71, claims the mesh devices left her in almost constant pain. Although Hrymoc has subsequently undergone multiple surgical procedures, the surgeons have found it impossible to fully remove the mesh, as it has eroded into surrounding tissues. Ethicon continues to maintain their pelvic mesh is perfectly safe, and that without the mesh, women with similar medical issues as Hrymoc would have been forced to undergo a more invasive type surgical procedure with even greater risks. As expected, Johnson & Johnson will appeal the verdict.