Judge Joseph Goodwin of the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and the presiding judge in vaginal mesh lawsuits consolidated into six multidistrict litigations (MDL) issued a ruling on October 18, 2013 upholding the jury’s decision in the first bellwether case against C.R. Bard, according to court documents.
The jury, after deliberation, found the defendant C.R. Bard liable for the injuries sustained by Donna Cisson after being implanted with an Avaulta Plus Posterior BioSynthetic Support System for the repair of her pelvic organ prolapse in 2009. After only a few years, the plaintiff started experiencing severe complications which required multiple surgeries and caused her mental and physical pain, permanent injury, and substantial physical deformity.
In handing down his decision, Judge Goodwin declared that the jury’s award was sound and that the plaintiff’s counsel had proven that the device did not function as intended.
Amount of damages awarded to the plaintiff was $2 million which represented $250,000 in compensatory damages and $1.75 million in punitive damages.
