Ethicon Doctor Admits Knowing Prolift Mesh Might Retract & Cause Injuries, Rottenstein Law Group Reports

In New Jersey Superior Court the Ethicon doctor who was in charge when Ethicon’s Gynecare Prolift vaginal mesh was first put on the market recently testified that—before the product’s launch—she was concerned about the mesh’s capacity for erosion and retraction, and she was aware of the injures those complications could cause.

The witness, Dr. Charlotte Owens, served as the World Wide Director of Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon unit and as the sole medical director for Gynecare from 2003 until 2005, the year Ethicon began marketing and selling the Gynecare Prolift, the mesh product that severely injured 47-year-old Linda Gross, the plaintiff in the case. (Gross v. Gynecare Inc., Atl-L-6966-10, Superior Court of Atlantic County, New Jersey). Dr. Owens testified that, before Ethicon put the Prolift on the market she was aware that the Prolift could erode and retract, and she believed that such erosion and retraction could cause a Prolift recipient to suffer nerve injuries and could render a Prolift recipient unable to enjoy sexual relations.

Despite this knowledge, the clinical expert report (CER) on the Prolift that Dr. Owens authored on Ethicon’s behalf does not discuss the Prolift’s potential for retraction or the injuries likely to result from that retraction, according to Dr. Owens’s testimony.

The case in which Dr. Owens delivered this testimony is the first of 1,800 vaginal mesh lawsuits against Ethicon pending in New Jersey Superior Court to go to trial. As the representative of women who claim they’ve been harmed by vaginal mesh products, Rochelle Rottenstein, the Rottenstein Law Group’s principal, implores women who believe they’ve been hurt by these implants to call the Rottenstein Law Group’s offices for a free evaluation of their ability to file a lawsuit right away.

“"It’s time medical device makers started putting patents ahead of profits,” Rottenstein says.

The Rottenstein Law Group’s Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit Information Center at www.vaginalmeshlawsuitcenter.us describes all of the issues vaginal mesh patients face and explains their options.

About the Rottenstein Law Group
The Rottenstein Law Group is a New York-based law firm that represents clients in mass tort actions. The firm was founded by Rochelle Rottenstein, a lawyer with over two decades of experience in compassionate representation of clients in consumer product injury, mass tort, and class action lawsuits. For more information, please visit the firm’s web site, or call (888) 9-ROT-LAW. (Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.)


Contact:
The Rottenstein Law Group, LLP
Rochelle Rottenstein, Esq.
321 W. 44th Street
# 804
New York NY 10036
(212) 933-9500 (office phone)
(212) 933-9980 (facsimile)
rochelle (at) rotlaw (dot) com
http://www.rotlaw.com
http://www.vaginalmeshlawsuitcenter.us

Contact Information

Rochelle Rottenstein, Esq.

Principal

The Rottenstein Law Group

(1) (212) 933-9500

Contact via E-mail