The lawsuit was made on behalf of thousands of Australian women against the company Johnson & Johnson who had pelvic mesh and tape products used for common childbirth complications.
It is proved at the court that Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon failed to aware the patients and surgeons about the side effects or the estimated risks of the products. The products were utilized for pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence after childbirth. Without any proper guidance or awareness, these devices have ruined thousands of women’s lives with physical and psychological detriment.
Many patients were faced with difficulty after the implementation of these devices after undergoing surgeries. Patients started having chronic pain with bleeding and continuous discomfort. Many women had to abstain from further sexual intercourse due to immense pain or discomfort after the mesh was surgically attached inside. There are even some cases where most of the mesh was eroded causing pain, bleeding and severe internal infection. It was almost impossible to remove the remaining part of the mesh completely leaving the patient’s life in danger. It gradually becomes a psychological problem side by side.
Finally, Judge Anna Katzmann gave the verdict in the favor of claimants’ side as she found the company guilty of providing "inaccurate" with several "false representations" that proved to be fatal for the patients.
Ms. Katzmann said in her ruling that it was not like the risks were unknown to the authority, yet allowed it to happen without letting the patient or the surgeons know about the risks of using those devices. This could leave the patients with a life threat.
The court heard some of the sufferers’ experience of horror where they had been in pain as if a blade was inside them which cut and made them bleed every time. Even breathing seemed tough to them.
Though Ethicon did not capitulate and would consider an appeal. Ethicon does not succumb to give in to the lawsuit stating that they did not follow or support any unethical procedure and spread pretentious information about their products to bamboozle patients. Each product, according to them, was under trail and well researched.
Julie Davis, the claimant of the case, was indeed glad to hear the verdict. She told the reporters that the company used women like guinea pigs to run tests for their products without any responsibility or intention to provide help with open hands. She stressed that they basically had the business motto of sell first and test later.
This decision is detrimental for the reputation and business of Johnson & Johnson worldwide, which is already having billions of dollars in legal claims over other products, including opioids. Apart from facing lawsuits in Australia, Ethicon, a part of Johnson & Johnson, has faced lawsuits in the United States Of America, Canada, and Europe.
Other than the mesh hazards making the women’s lives miserable, Johnson & Johnson is accused of several other complains, having lawsuits from people who claim its talc products caused cancer. Presently it was ordered to pay $8bn as compensation to a man who suffered breast growth while he was on an anti-psychotic drug.
