Federal Judge Overseeing Boston Scientific Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuits Denies Motion to Dismiss Punitive Damage Claims in Obtryx Cases, Bernstein Liebhard LLP Reports
New York, NY (PRWEB) October 16, 2014 -- The federal judge overseeing thousands of transvaginal mesh lawsuits (http://www.transvaginalmeshlawsuithelp.com/) filed against Boston Scientific Corp. has denied the company’s Motion to Dismiss Punitive Damage claims in seven cases that allege injury due to its Obtryx Transobturator Mid-Urethral Sling System. According to an Order entered on October 9th in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Judge Joseph R. Goodwin found that the plaintiffs established an issue of fact as to whether the company’s actions were wanton, willful, or reckless. All of the lawsuits similarly allege that Boston Scientific was aware that the polypropylene material used in the Obtryx device should not be implanted in the human body. Plaintiffs also claim that the company knew it needed to conduct long-term safety testing of that material, but failed to do so. (In re: Boston Scientific Corp., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation - MDL No. 2326)
“Our Firm is representing hundreds of women who have filed transvaginal mesh lawsuits against Boston Scientific and other companies. We are monitoring all of these litigations closely,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm continues to offer free legal reviews to women who suffered mesh erosion, pain, scarring, infection and other serious transvaginal mesh complications, allegedly due to products marketed by a number of manufacturers.
Vaginal Mesh Litigation
According to court documents, Boston Scientific is named a defendant in more than 13,000 transvaginal mesh lawsuits that are currently pending in the Southern District of West Virginia, where Bernstein Liebhard LLP partner, Jeffrey S. Grand, is serving as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee. All of the claims filed in the federal litigation similarly allege that surgical mesh devices marketed by the company to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence were defectively designed and manufactured, and caused women to suffer chronic pain, infection, mesh erosion, and other debilitating vaginal mesh complications. The first trial in the proceeding is scheduled to begin on November 3, 2014.
Boston Scientific is also facing hundreds of similar lawsuits that have been filed in state courts around the U.S. According to court documents, the company was ordered to pay $73 million in punitive and compensatory damages following a trial that concluded in Texas state court on September 8th that also involved its Obtryx sling. However, punitive damages in that case were later reduced to comply with Texas law, cutting the total judgment to $34 million. (Salazar v. Lopez, No. DC-1214349, District Court for Dallas County, 95th Judicial District of Texas (Dallas).
Court records indicate that more than 60,000 transvaginal mesh lawsuits are currently pending in several litigations underway in the Southern District of West Virginia Mr. Grand is a also a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for other federal proceedings, including those involving American Medical Systems, Inc. (MDL No. 2325), C.R. Bard, Inc. (MDL 2326) and Ethicon, Inc. (MDL No. 2327).
Mr. Grand was also appointed Co-Liaison Counsel in two multicounty litigations established for C.R. Bard and Ethicon mesh lawsuits in New Jersey's Atlantic Superior Court. He was also a member of the trial team on the first Ethicon trial, which ended in March 2013 with an $11 million verdict for the Plaintiff. (In re: Pelvic Mesh/Gynecare Litigation, No. 6341-10; In re: Pelvic Mesh Litigation/Bard, No. L-6339-10)
Women who allegedly suffered serious vaginal mesh complications following surgery to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence may be entitled to file their own transvaginal mesh lawsuit. To learn more about this ongoing litigation, please visit Bernstein Liebhard LLP's website or the firm's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/meshlawsuit. To arrange for a free legal consultation, please call 800-511-5092.
About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993. As a national law firm, Bernstein Liebhard LLP possesses all of the legal and financial resources required to successfully challenge billion dollar pharmaceutical and medical device companies. As a result, our attorneys and legal staff have been able to recover more than $3 billion on behalf of our clients. The Firm has been named by The National Law Journal to the Plaintiffs Hot List, recognizing the top plaintiffs firms in the country, for the past 12 consecutive years. Bernstein Liebhard LLP is the only firm in the country to be named to this prestigious list every year since it was first published in 2003.
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ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. © 2014 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, 800-511-5092. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.
Contact Information:
Felecia L. Stern, Esq.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP
info(at)consumerinjurylawyers(dot)com
http://www.transvaginalmeshlawsuithelp.com/
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Felecia L. Stern, Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuit Help Center, http://www.transvaginalmeshlawsuithelp.com/, +1 800-511-5092, [email protected]
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