$120 Million Verdict in TVT-O Trial

Just several weeks ago, in late April, J&J's medical device subsidiary, Ethicon Inc., was tagged with yet another trial loss in the transvaginal mesh (TVM) litigation. After a three-week trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas before the Honorable Kenneth Powell, the jury in McFarland v. Ethicon, Inc., returned a verdict for the plaintiff of $20 million in compensatory and $100 million in punitive damages.

The plaintiff, 68-year-old Susan McFarland, was implanted with the Ehticon's TVT-O (transvaginal tape-obturator) device and claimed the product was defect, causing chronic pain and urinary tract infections. Attorneys Tracie Palmer and Braden Lepisto, of Kline & Specter P.C., served as lead trial counsel for the plaintiff. There are still thousands of TVM cases currently pending throughout the nation, including cases in the consolidated federal litigation In re: Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, (MDL. 2327) and in Philadelphia County.