TVM Plaintiffs’ Verdict: Jury finds J&J’s Ethicon unit liable in bellwether trial

Today, a Charleston, W. Va., jury found Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Inc. division liable for injuries plaintiff Jo Huskey sustained after being implanted in 2011 with the manufacturer’s TVT-O sling, and awarded Huskey $3.27 million. 

Huskey’s TVT-O sling, or transvaginal tape obturator, is a polypropylene mesh sling that was used to correct stress urinary incontinence. She brought the lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson after experiencing mesh erosion and chronic pelvic pain. 

This was the first federal bellwether trial against Johnson & Johnson alleging that Ethicon’s TVT-O pelvic mesh sling is defective and has caused numerous complications in women implanted with the device. U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin presided over the trial.

“I am pleased with the verdict the jury reached today in Mrs. Huskey’s case,” said Motley Rice attorney Fidelma Fitzpatrick and one of the attorneys for Huskey. Ed Wallace of Wexler Wallace LLP and Jeffrey M. Kuntz of Wagstaff & Cartmell also represented Huskey. “While this verdict will not automatically return her life back to the way it was before she received the mesh sling, it holds Ethicon accountable for putting such a dangerous device on the market,” stated Fitzpatrick.  

Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Inc. division faces more than 20,000 lawsuits regarding its pelvic mesh devices, all of which are consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and will be overseen by Chief Judge Goodwin.

Motley Rice attorneys hold leadership roles in pelvic mesh cases filed in state and federal courts, representing hundreds of clients in transvaginal mesh lawsuits against manufacturers that include Boston Scientific, American Medical Systems, Inc. (AMS), C.R. Bard, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. Learn more about Motley Rice’s transvaginal mesh lawsuits. 

* Please remember that every case is different. Any result we achieve for one client in one matter does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.