Woman Awarded $2.1M in Fourth Pelvic Mesh Trial

Santa Clara, CAA jury has awarded $2.1 million in damages in the fourth consecutive transvaginal mesh bellwether product liability lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson (J&J). The lawsuit is part of a massive multi-district litigation and was brought against J&J’s Prolift pelvic mesh. It was made and marketed by J&J’s subsidiary Ethicon, and subsequently withdrawn from the market in 2012.

Brought by Sharon Beltz, from Pennsylvania, the lawsuit states that Beltz has incurred permanent injuries from the mesh implant, which cannot be removed. According to court documents, "Mrs. Beltz's problems are thus permanent. She may elect to undergo further pain injections, resection of the mesh, or start taking pain medications regularly, but these options at best will only mitigate her symptoms. She has to live the remainder of her life with constant pelvic pain, a sensation her bladder is pulling, urinary incontinence and retention, lower flank pain, urinary tract infections, and severe pain with sex that lingers days after she has intercourse." Further, "She will be at risk for exposure of the mesh in her vagina and erosion of the mesh into her bladder, urethra, or other organs for the remainder of her life," court papers state.

The Beltz verdict follows on the heels of the third such case, which saw a $20 million verdict awarded to the plaintiff. That was just one month ago.

J&J has some 33,000 Gynecare Prolift lawsuits filed against its Ethicon division alleging Gynecare transvaginal mesh is defective. Rather than relieve women with Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Urinary Stress Incontinence, Gynecare Mesh side effects include severe pain, bleeding and infection. Some of the first transvaginal mesh or bladder sling products introduced in the US were made by Gynecare or Ethicon.

Pelvic mesh or TVM bladder sling, is used to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Many of those women have suffered severe transvaginal mesh complications, resulting in more than 100,000 defective device lawsuits filed and possibly making the vaginal mesh one of the largest medical device mass torts ever. Transvaginal mesh settlements are ongoing.