Design Defect Claim Proceeds Against Ethicon in Md. Federal Pelvic Mesh Case

BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge has allowed a design defect claim to proceed in an Ethicon pelvic mesh action, ruling that under the consumer expectation test, the plaintiff is not required to present evidence of a safer alternative design.

However, in the Dec. 28 order, Judge George L. Russell III of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland dismissed the claims for failure to warn and fraud, finding the plaintiffs failed to show that Ethicon had a duty to warn the implanting surgeon of the supposed increased risk of complications in patients with a history of back …