Jury Awards $24.2 Million in Jefferson Parish, LA Med Mal Case

A Jefferson Parish, Louisiana jury returned a $24.2 Million verdict in a medical malpractice case. Nola.com reported on the story.

The facts of the case are heartbreaking as it involved irreversible brain damage to a toddler. The cause of the injury was from an infusion pump, manufactured by Abbott Laboratories and Hospira Inc., which spun off from Abbott in 2004. The Plaintiffs claimed the pump failed and delivered epinephrine, an adrenalin drug, into the child's body, triggering cardiac arrest. Ochsner Hospital was also named as a Defendant.

The story can be found on the link below:

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/08/jefferson_parish_jury_awards_2.html#incart_river_default

$5.5 Million Verdict in Transvaginal Mesh Case

In the first transvaginal mesh lawsuit to go to trial, a jury in California ruled that transvaginal mesh implants manufacturer C.R. Bard was responsible for a patient’s injuries (Scott v. Kannappan, S-1500-CV-266034-WDE, Superior Court for Kern County, California, Bakersfield). In the jury trial, the Plaintiff, Christine Scott, was awarded $5 million for her injuries and $500,000 was awarded to her husband for loss of consortium. CR Bard was found 60% liable, while Scott’s doctor, Tillakarasi Kannappan, was found 40% liable. In Alabama, the percentage of fault would not have made a difference because of joint and several liability.

Scott had two Avaulta Plus transvaginal mesh devices implanted in her to treat urinary incontinence. She contended that the Bard Avaulta Plus vaginal mesh implant was defective and the manufacturer failed to warn about its safety risks. The Defendants included the manufacturer of the device CR Bard and her physician.

The transvaginal mesh caused complications that left her entirely incontinent, with chronic pain and the inability to have sex. She underwent nine revision surgeries and eight other procedures to try to get both devices removed that doctors said the devices could not be safely taken out of her body. Court documents report that the device has cut Scott’s colon and tissue, which continues to grow through the mesh holes. She will likely experience chronic pain for life and her runner lifestyle has been affected.

Although Scott is the first transvaginal mesh victim to get her day in court, hundreds of other women have filed their defective medical device lawsuits because of injuries and health complications they have suffered after getting a transvaginal mesh implant. Mesh product manufacturers named as defendants have included Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX), Murray Hill, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Endo Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc., and other companies. 

This verdict comes more than a month after Johnson& Johnson Ethicon discontinued four lines of vaginal mesh devices. Many filed cases have been streamlined into multiple MDL’s and  include C.R. Bard (MDL 2187), American Medical Systems (MDL 2325), Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon (MDL 2327 ) and Boston Scientific (MDL 2326).

The vaginal mesh implant devices have been popular for treating Stress Urinary Incontinence and Pelvic Organ Prolapse. However, in the last few years, there have been reports of women suffering serious complications, including severe bleeding, pain during intercourse, infection, and erosion of the device. Between just 2005 and 2007 alone, the US Food and Drug Administration said it received over 1000 report of adverse events. Also, Scott is not the only woman to have undergone multiple procedures to try removing the device.

Last July, the FDA updated its Public Health Notification on transvaginal mesh products. While the original one from 2008 said that using transvaginal mesh in medical procedures could potentially cause a patient harm, the 2011 updated said that it is not unusual for someone undergoing a procedure involving this surgical device to suffer “serious complications.” The FDA also said that getting a transvaginal mesh does not give a patient a higher likelihood of a successful outcome than if she had undergone traditional surgery to treat the same condition.

C.R. Bard continued to keep its Avaulta products-- including the Avaulta Biosynthetic, Avaulta Plus and Avaulta Solo devices—on the market until they pulled it from the shelves in the US at the beginning of July 2012. The products were pulled only when the FDA asked for more clinical trials to determine their safety. Incredibly, Bard is still selling its Avaulta line in other countries.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Alabama Anti-Trust Litigation in the News

The Birmingham News reported on the current state of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama Anti-Trust Litigation this week, which was posted on al.com. Chris Hellums of our firm, Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, filed one of the first suits in Alabama. 

Some of the more interesting statistics and figures reported on Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama include:

      -total assets of $2.4 billion at the end of 2011

      -a market share of 90 percent

      -Blue Cross' rates aren't subject to automatic review by the Insurance Department

      -net income of $257 million in 2011

See the link below for the full article:

http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2012/08/blue-cross_blue_shields_28_bil.html