On Tuesday, April 28th, Boston Scientific Corp, one of the leading manufacturers of transvaginal mesh products reached its first settlement agreement to resolve thousands of civil law suits that had been brought against them. Plaintiffs had experienced negative side effects after using mesh and sling devices from Boston Scientific Corp. and had brought lawsuits against the company as a way of seeking compensation.
The company is expected to pay about $119 million to resolved 2,970 cases. In total, Boston Scientific Corp. is facing more than 25,000 mesh claims in the United States. This is not the first time that Boston Scientific has lost in court: in November, the company lost two federal cases in West Virginia and Miami In the Miami case, four women were awarded $26.7 million after a federal court jury found that Boston Scientific was responsible for selling faulty transvaginal mesh devices. In West Virginia, an verdict of $18.5 million was brought against the company. Given that the company has been ordered to pay such significant verdicts, it’s likely that other big pharmaceutical companies that manufacture mesh devices like Johnson & Johnson will also have big verdicts brought against them.