Dallas Jury Awards Transvaginal Mesh Patient $73 Million in Boston Scientific Lawsuit, Baron and Budd Reports
First Loss for Boston Scientific Creates Positive Precedent for Other Injured Women
DALLAS –(September 11, 2014) –Earlier this week, a Dallas jury returned a $73 million verdict in favor of a woman who has suffered serious health problems after being implanted with Boston Scientific’s Obtryx transvaginal mesh product. Baron and Budd congratulates Matthews & Associates, Freese and Goss, Edwards & de la Cerda and the rest of the trial team on their victory. The firm hopes that this verdict helps to pave the way for positive results in other transvaginal mesh lawsuits. Baron and Budd represents hundreds of women harmed by transvaginal mesh implants.
“This is an excellent result for all women who have been harmed by transvaginal mesh,” said Stephen Blackburn, a lawyer at Baron and Budd. “Though we understand no amount of money can cure these injuries, a jury award can help pay expensive medical bills, provide for a victim’s family and send a message to these companies that marketing dangerous and defective products will not be profitable in the long run.”
The patient in the lawsuit, Martha Salazar, was implanted with the transvaginal mesh product in January 2011. According to her testimony, she only suffered from stress urinary incontinence (SUI) when engaging in active exercise or when coughing or sneezing. Salazar’s implantation surgery took approximately 15 minutes.
After the initial surgery, Salazar alleged that she suffered from intense pain, dyspareunia and irreversible nerve damage to the femoral and obturator nerve. Because of damage to the adductor in Salazar’s right leg, she now walks with a limp.
At the time of the verdict, Salazar had undergone four surgeries to remove the mesh. Even more surgeries are likely to follow.
The verdict includes $23 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages.
A few weeks ago, another verdict in a transvaginal mesh lawsuit was reached in West Virginia. In that case, another woman implanted with a TVT-O mesh implant manufactured by Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson, was awarded $3.27 million.
Baron and Budd has been fighting to Protect What’s Right for nearly 40 years. During the years, the firm has been instrumental in helping consumers harmed by negligent corporations on a national scale. The firm helped to oversee a global settlement in litigation surrounding popular diet drug Fen-Phen valued at more than $1.275 billion. Firm shareholder Russell Budd serves on the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in the transvaginal mesh litigation.
To learn more about Baron and Budd’s transvaginal mesh practice, call 866-520-2755 or visit our website here: //www.druginjurynews.com/dangerous-drugs-devices/pharmaceuticals//transvaginal-mesh-litigation/
About Baron & Budd, P.C.
The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Austin and Los Angeles, is a nationally recognized law firm with almost four decades of experience “Protecting What’s Right” for people, communities and businesses harmed by negligence. Baron & Budd’s size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals, governmental and business entities in areas as diverse as PCB contamination in schools, FLSA (overtime) violations, pharmaceutical and medical implant injuries, water contamination, GM ignition problems, California Proposition 65 violations, mortgage and credit card fraud and asbestos-related illnesses such as mesothelioma.