May 28, 2015 – A Delaware jury ordered Boston Scientific to pay a woman $100 million* in damages today for injuries she suffered from having been implanted with plastic transvaginal mesh.
It was a record amount, surpassing the previous high of $73 million* awarded to a Texas woman last Sept. in Dallas. The Delaware jury awarded Deborah Barba $25 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages, which were established to send a message to the company.
*Update: Both verdicts are on appeal. No recoveries have been made despite the verdicts.
Ms. Barba, 51, of Newark, Delaware, sued Boston Scientific for permanent, serious injuries caused by the company’s Advantage Fit and Pinnacle transvaginal meshes. Ms. Barba suffered significant complications after being iImplanted with the plastic mesh in 2009. She has also endured two surgeries that could not fully remove the devices.
Boston Scientific Negligent in Design, Warnings
The jury found Boston Scientific negligent in its design and manufacture of the Pinnacle and Advantage Fit devices. They also found that the warnings insufficiently cautioned unsuspecting doctors and their patients.
“I am thankful for the jury’s verdict and hope my story can help other women who are suffering from mesh complications to receive the resolution they deserve,” Ms. Barba said. “While difficult to share, I hope my case demonstrates to all mesh manufacturers the dangers of their products and the justice they owe victims.”
The case is Deborah Barba v. Boston Scientific Corporation, Superior Court of the State of Delaware in and for New Castle County, C.A. No. N11C-08-050 MMJ.
Boston Scientific has seen some of the highest jury awards to plaintiffs in its pelvic mesh cases. In the previously highest mesh verdict to date, Martha Salazar – represented by Houston attorney David Matthews – was awarded $73 million in a Dallas courtroom. Texas’ arbitrary capping laws on jury awards later reduced that amount by half. Last November, two cases against Boston Scientific with several plaintiffs resulted in $18.5 and $26.7 million jury awards. In those cases, juries also found that the Boston Scientific meshes were defective in designed. In all cases, the jury verdicts are on appeal; so no recoveries have been made by plaintiffs despite the verdicts.
Related
- FDA reclassifies Pelvic Mesh as High Risk
- Transvaginal Mesh Catastrophe
- $73 Million Pelvic Mesh Verdict
by Matthews & Associates
