Jury Awards $2 Million To Plaintff in First C.R. Bard Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Aug. 28, 2013 - PRLog -- A jury has ordered vaginal mesh manufacturer C.R. Bard Inc. to pay $2 million to a woman suffering serious injuries caused by the company’s controversial Avaulta Plus vaginal mesh. After deliberating for over 12 hours, the jury award public health nurse Donna Cisson $250,000 in compensatory for her injuries and $1.75 million in punitive damages. Cisson  had to endure additional surgery to remove the mesh and experienced many significant side effects from the mesh.

The verdict in the two-week trial was the first verdict in the first bellwether case to go to trial of the four selected bellwether cases that will be litigated back-to-back in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia before Judge Joseph Goodwin. This verdict comes after the first lawsuit against Bard ended in a mistrial due to prejudicial testimony.  The jury’s ruling in this first bellwether cases is important in establishing future trend for the more that 5,000 bladder mesh lawsuits that have already been filed against C.R. Bard in the MDL proceedings. (In re C.R. Bard Inc. Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation, 10-md-02187).

Thousands of women have filed suits claiming the Avaulta vaginal mesh as well as mesh devices from other manufacturers causes significant injuries including mesh erosion through the vagina, pain, infection, bleeding, organ perforation and urinary problems. These injuries often necessitate subsequent surgeries to correct the damages. Plaintiffs claim that Bard was well aware that its bladder mesh posed a serious risk to women, but failed to warn the public about these risks.  Bard pulled the Avaulta implants from the market after the FDA asked all medical device makers to study and report on the rates of organ damage, infection and pain in vaginal mesh recipients.

Bard also knowingly sold vaginal mesh devices made from plastic that its manufacturer warned was unfit and unsuitable for use in humans. Bard used a resin-based plastic made by a division of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. after the material's supplier officially registered a warning that the product should not be permanently implanted in humans. Such alleged conduct is unconscionable.

Ennis & Ennis, P.A. continues to offer free, nationwide, confidential consultations to anyone who was injured by a transvaginal mesh device including, but not limited to Ethicon’s’ Prolift, Boston Scientific’s Pinnacle and Uphold, American Medical Systems’ Elevate, Apogee and Perigee, C.R. Bard’s Avaulta and Pelvilace products, Caldera Medical’s Ascend, and other products manufactured by Mentor and Tyco Covidien by calling toll free 1-800-856-6405 or by going to www.ennislaw.com and completing an online case evaluation form.