Philadelphia Jury Awards $41 Million Over Ethicon Pelvic Mesh That Led to Nine Surgeries
After trial: Ethicon said it would appeal the verdict. We found no appellate opinion, post-trial ruling or settlement report, so the final outcome and any collection are unconfirmed.
Won by Kline & Specter, PC.
A Philadelphia jury found on January 31, 2019 that three Ethicon pelvic mesh products were defective and awarded Suzanne Emmett, a Lancaster County woman, and her husband $41 million against Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson. The award included $15 million in compensatory damages to Emmett, $1 million to her husband for loss of consortium and $25 million in punitive damages. Emmett had needed nine surgeries. Ethicon said it would appeal.
What happened
On January 31, 2019, a Philadelphia jury returned a $41 million verdict for Suzanne Emmett, a 57-year-old Lancaster County woman, and her husband, Michael, against Ethicon Inc. and its parent, Johnson & Johnson. The jury found that three Ethicon pelvic mesh products were defective: Prolift, TVT-O and Gynemesh. It also found the company negligent in manufacturing the devices.
Emmett received a vaginal mesh implant in 2007. Mesh of this kind is used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. Over the following years she was implanted with Prolift to treat prolapse, TVT-O for incontinence and Gynemesh. She developed infections, inflammation, bleeding, pain and painful intercourse. Surgeons removed the mesh, and she went through six more operations after that removal. In all, she needed nine surgeries, and the procedures did not reverse the damage.
The case was tried in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas before Judge Kenneth Powell, over about five weeks. The plaintiffs argued that the mesh had a high failure rate and caused lasting injuries, and that Ethicon misrepresented the safety and effectiveness of the products. Thomas Kline and Kila Baldwin of Kline & Specter represented the Emmetts. Ethicon's position was that the products were properly designed and that it had adequately warned surgeons of the risks.
The twelve-member jury agreed with the plaintiffs and reached its decision unanimously, finding all three products defective. The punitive award was the largest single piece of the total. It awarded $15 million in compensatory damages to Suzanne Emmett and $1 million to Michael Emmett for loss of consortium. It added $25 million in punitive damages, which brought the total to $41 million.
After the verdict, Kline said the jury had rightfully compensated one of the thousands of Johnson & Johnson victims terribly injured by its mesh products. At the time, Johnson & Johnson faced about 37,400 pelvic mesh lawsuits, and the Emmett verdict was one of six multimillion-dollar mesh verdicts the firm had won. An Ethicon spokesperson said the company stood by its pelvic mesh products and planned to appeal.
We found no appellate decision, post-trial ruling or settlement report for the Emmett verdict.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Philadelphia Inquirer, 'Pennsylvania woman wins $41 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson', Jan. 31, 2019·Archived copy
- 2.LNP/LancasterOnline, 'Lancaster woman's lawsuit results in $41 million verdict against subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson', Jan. 2019·Archived copy
- 3.The Legal Intelligencer, 'Philadelphia Jury Awards $41M Verdict to Woman Who Needed 9 Surgeries to Fix Defective Pelvic Mesh', Jan. 31, 2019·Archived copy
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