Boston Scientific has been ordered by the court to fork out $100 million to a woman who filed a lawsuit against the company saying that the transvaginal mesh manufactured by them caused her injury.
On Thursday, May 28, a jury from Delaware adjudged Boston Scientific guilty and ordered it to pay $100 million to plaintiff 51-year-old Deborah Barba. The Newark resident receives $25 million as compensatory and $75 million as punitive damages.
"The punitive damages the jury awarded in this verdict speak very boldly for themselves," said Fred Thompson, one of Barba's lawyers. "With all the evidence we presented, the jury chose the damages according to the irresponsible behavior it thought Boston Scientific demonstrated. We are pleased that Boston Scientific may finally be receiving the message about the dangers of its transvaginal mesh where it hurts most: its wallet."
In 2009, Barba underwent an implant of Boston Scientific's Pinnacle and Advantage Fit mesh to treat her urinary stress incontinence and the pelvic organ prolapse. However, the mesh caused severe complications and even made two more surgeries to correct the issue; the parts of the device remain in her body and continued causing pain. As a result, in 2011, Barba sued the company.
The trial lasted two weeks and jurors debated for over 7 hours before pronouncing Boston Scientific negligent in creating and designing the device. Moreover, the jury opined that the company had shown failure in alerting doctors and patients of the potential risks.
Boston Scientific has over 24,000 product liability lawsuits related to the transvaginal mesh as they caused women pain, bleeding, infections or internal damage as they were made from substandard materials.
In April, the Marlborough-based company revealed that it had managed to make settlements for 2,970 mesh-related lawsuits, shelling out $119 million for the same.
The current verdict is the sixth against Boston Scientific but the largest against it or any other mesh manufacturer for that matter.
Boston Scientific, however, denies allegations that the transvaginal meshes are faulty and that it was negligent in alerting people of the potential risks. A spokesperson for the company revealed that it was in disagreement with the jury's decision and would appeal the same on the basis of "the strength of our evidence."
Photo: D Coetzee | Flickr
