Mentor to Face Punitive Damages Claims in Certain Minn. ObTape Cases

MINNEAPOLIS — Women who claim they were injured by the ObTape transobturator vaginal sling device after July 16, 2004, may assert a claim of punitive damages against Mentor Corp. because by that date it allegedly knew its device had a high probability of causing injury, a Minnesota federal judge has ruled.

However, in the July 19 order, Judge Ann D. Montgomery of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota further agreed with a magistrate judge that plaintiffs implanted with the device before July 16, 2004, may not bring a punitive damages claim against Mentor because they cannot show …