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Prolift, MedTech Marketing
Mesh Medical Device News Desk, June 20, 2018 ~ Patricia Hammons' Prolift pelvic mesh trial against Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson, handed her a $12.8 million jury verdict. Yesterday it survived the latest appeal filed by J&J.
Patricia Hammons was awarded $12.8 million dollars in her Pennsylvania case against Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Of that award $7 million was in punitive damages.
On Tuesday, a state court panel refused Ethicon’s request to overturn the jury award.
The 82-page verdict, by Judge Victor P. Stabile, requires Ethicon to pay those damages to Hammons who had been implanted with a Prolift Pelvic Floor Repair kit mesh in 2009.
See Mesh News Desk story here.
The Hammons trial was the first in the pelvic mesh mass tort litigation in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. There are about 100 similar cases waiting to be heard in that venue.
Judge Stabile notes trial testimony by medical experts concluded the Prolift was defective because it was too heavy and made of plastic that can incite inflammatory responses.
At trial, Hammons’ surgeon testified if he had been adequately warned he would not have used the Prolift on Ms. Hammons. Jurors in the original trial found the Prolift was defective and the warnings to end user doctors was inadequate.
She was represented by Shanin Specter of Kline & Specter.
Ethicon immediately filed an appeal in the case.
The appeals process is not over. Ethicon can still file an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Prolift cases have brought jury awards to plaintiffs starting with Linda Gross in New Jersey ($11.1 million) to the Kaiser case in Indiana ($35 million) in March, and $15 million in damages to New Jersey in the Hrymoc case against Ethicon.
Prolift entered the market in March 2005, even though testimony showed company doubts it was a safe and effective product. Ethicon quietly removed the polypropylene mesh from the market in mid 2012.
LEARN MORE:
MND, December 22, 2015, Philadelphia Prolift Mesh Case Yields $12.8 Million Verdict for Plaintiff
https://www.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/philadelphia-prolift-mesh-case-yields-12-5-million-verdict-for-plaintiff/
Appeal Judgment, Superior Court of Pennsylvania, Hammons v Ethicon, June 19, 2018, here
