The jury in Bergen County awarded Mary McGinnis and her husband $33 million in compensatory damages for her pain and suffering, medical bills, and other damages.
The McGinnis couple were also awarded $35 million in punitive damages to punish C.R. Bard for failing to adequately warn about side effects and selling two defective pelvic mesh implants.
According to an attorney who represented the McGinnis couple:
They rushed this product to market, and I think the jury was repulsed by that. I think this jury sent a message: Change what you’re doing, because there are consequences.”
Pelvic mesh implants are supposed to treat pelvic organ prolapse. The mesh is supposed to act like a hammock to support internal organs.
McGinnis was implanted with two types of synthetic pelvic mesh in March 2009 — Avaulta Solo mesh, and Align Transobturator. Since then, C.R. Bard pulled both of those products off the market by 2016.
In 2012, C.R. Bard lost a $5.5 million Avaulta verdict in California state court and another $2 million Avaulta case West Virginia in 2013.
The lawsuit is In RE: Mary McGinnis et al. v. C.R. Bard Inc. et al. — Case No. L-17543-14 in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Bergen County.
Source: UPDATE: New Jersey jury hits BD subsidiary Bard with $68m pelvic mesh verdict