Endo Agrees to $830 Million to Settle Transvaginal Mesh Claims
On Wednesday, April 30th, Endo Pharmaceuticals agreed to settle the lawsuits in their transvaginal mesh multidistrict litigation (MDL) for $830 million.
The pharmaceutical company stated that the settlement amount would cover most of the transvaginal mesh personal injury lawsuits brought forward against its subsidiary, American Medical Systems. As of February 20th, the company faced 22,000 personal injury lawsuits alleging injuries due to transvaginal mesh implants.
The company agreed last year to pay $54.5 million to settle some of the transvaginal mesh personal injury claims in the MDL. The company stated previously that it had set aside $520 million to cover settlements with the plaintiffs.
The judge in the AMS transvaginal mesh case scheduled two bellwether cases against the manufacturer in March of this year – one was scheduled for June 2nd, and the other July 7th.
Last fall, five of the six transvaginal mesh manufacturers agreed to begin settlement talks with plaintiffs. The only company so far that has not gone into settlement negotiations for its transvaginal mesh devices is Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Ethicon. “Ethicon is now focusing on trying to efficiently manage thousands of unverified and possibly unfounded complaints,” Sheri Woodruff, a spokeswoman for the Ethicon unit of New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J, said in an e-mail. The company will “request dismissal of meritless claims, including claims with no compensable injury, claims barred by the statute of limitations, misfiled claims, and improperly filed claims.”
On Thursday, April 3rd of this year, a Texas jury ruled that Johnson & Johnson’s TVT-O transvaginal mesh sling was defective, and the company was ordered to pay $1.2 million to the plaintiff for damages. However, Johnson & Johnson is already planning to appeal the transvaginal mesh injury verdict. “The jury’s verdict on design defect is disappointing, and we believe we have strong grounds for appeal,” Matthew Johnson, an Ethicon spokesman, said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
Part of the reason the transvaginal mesh manufacturers are looking at the settlement option could be due to the potential for more lawsuits – the number could reportedly swell to 50,000 transvaginal mesh personal injury lawsuits for all of the manufacturers combined.
The Strom Law Firm Represents Women in Transvaginal Mesh Personal Injury Cases
Transvaginal mesh was originally developed in 1996 and approved by the FDA for organ prolapse that caused vaginal pain and stress urinary incontinence. The original transvaginal mesh, Boston Scientific’s ProtoGen, was recalled in 1999, but due to an FDA approval loophole called 510(k) – which fast-tracks approval of devices similar to previously-approved devices – many other medical manufacturing companies began developing transvaginal mesh devices of their own. The FDA recently proposed changes to the 510(k) process to prevent transvaginal mesh devices from being expedited to market.
It is important to hold medical manufacturers, including manufacturers of transvaginal mesh, to the highest ethical standard. If you or a loved one have had surgery involving transvaginal mesh, and have since suffered painful side effects including bleeding, infection, organ perforation, and constant pain in the lower extremities, you may be entitled to compensation. The attorneys at the Strom Law Firm understand the suffering caused by defective devices like transvaginal mesh, and can help with your case. We offer free, confidential consultations to discuss your concerns, so do not hesitate to contact us. 803.252.4800.
