Ind. Federal Jury Awards $35 Million to Plaintiff in Prolift Transvaginal Mesh Action

HAMMOND, Ind. - An Indiana federal jury has awarded $35 million to a woman who alleged her Ethicon Prolift transvaginal mesh device was defectively designed and that Ethicon Inc. failed to provide her surgeon with adequate warnings as to the device's risks.

In a March 8 verdict, the jury sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana awarded plaintiff Barbara Kaiser $10 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages. Kaiser's husband was awarded nothing on his loss of consortium claim, however.

Judge Philip P. Simon presided over the trial, which began on Feb. …