J&J Claims Women Were Solicited To File Pelvic Mesh Cases
By Jof Enriquez,
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Johnson & Johnson recently asked a judge to allow a probe into reports that patients are being illegally solicited to file fraudulent claims over defective pelvic mesh implants. The manufacturer blamed the alleged solicitations for the influx of pelvic mesh cases being hurled against its Ethicon unit.
“Women across the nation are receiving unsolicited phone calls from strangers who are seeking -- or, more disturbingly, already know -- their very personal medical information,” J&J said in a filing before U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin in West Virginia, per a Bloomberg report. “These individuals, who on some occasions may call as often as 50 times a month, try to entice each woman into filing a lawsuit, oftentimes disregarding whether she has an injury or even had a mesh implant at all.”
In the filing, J&J said that the callers are violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a federal law that protects a patient’s private medical information, according to Bloomberg. A transcript of one call provided by J&J in its motion revealed that a solicitor tried to entice a woman in Indiana by telling her that she could receive up to $40,000 dollars if she lied in a claim.
J&J said the calls were a significant factor in the spike of cases being filed against its subsidiary. The company asked Judge Goodwin to weed out fraudulent claims by asking plaintiffs for their medical records in order to validate their injuries allegedly caused by pelvic mesh implants. It also asked the court that plaintiffs’ lawyers be questioned under oath regarding their participation in the solicitations.
Plaintiff's lawyers denied involvement in the alleged solicitations, and said that they will continue to pursue legitimate claims, according to Bloomberg.
A lead lawyer for plaintiffs, Bryan Aylstock, described J&J's motion a "baseless attempt" to avoid responsibility for the implants used to treat stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, according to an article in Reuters.
J&J is facing some 35,000 pelvic mesh suits across the U.S., and is one of seven manufacturers that is facing consolidated claims in the multi-district litigation (MDL) being overseen by Judge Goodwin, Reuters said.
Judge Goodwin said in a December hearing that manufacturers of the devices should seriously consider settling the cases.
“I can’t imagine a corporation facing potentially billions of dollars in verdicts wouldn’t find it advisable to try to achieve a settlement for a much lesser sum,” Goodwin was quoted in a transcript as saying. “I base that billions of dollars business on some of the rather large verdicts that we’ve had.”
Last year, jurors in the West Virginia court ordered J&J to pay a former patient $3.27 million in damages over a faulty implant used to treat urinary incontinence. Earlier, a Dallas court ordered the company to pay another patient $1.2 million in damages. Boston Scientific in September was ordered to pay a woman $73 million as compensation for her injuries.
Meanwhile, Endo International agreed to settle 20,000 claims for $830 million, while C.R. Bard settled more than 500 lawsuits for $21 million.