As discussed in a recent blog posting, counsel for the plaintiffs in the Ethicon transvaginal mesh Multi-District Litigation had recently petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to impose severe sanctions against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Ethicon, Inc., for its destruction of thousands of pages of documents that the plaintiffs claimed were relevant to their claims. Ethicon, Inc. manufactured various transvaginal mesh products that have caused severe personal injuries to thousands of women who had the mesh implanted for pelvic organ prolapse and/or stress urinary incontinence. Although she did not grant the more serious sanctions sought by the plaintiffs, Magistrate Judge Cheryl Eifert did grant the plaintiffs’ requests for the imposition of monetary sanctions for the destruction of the documents and for reasonable costs in pursuing their motion. While it may be disappointing that the Magistrate Judge did not impose more severe sanctions in order to deter corporations in product liability suits from committing discovery abuses, the court nonetheless acknowledged that abuses had occurred. Trials for several cases are currently scheduled to begin this month.

SUGARMAN attorneys are actively representing clients in the transvaginal mesh litigation. If you would like more information about transvaginal mesh, or would like to discuss your potential claim, please fill out a Contact Form, Contact Form, call Marianne C. LeBlanc or David McCormack at 617-542-1000 or e-mail mleblanc@sugarman.com or dmccormack@sugarman.com.