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Plaintiffs who are part of multidistrict litigation related to injuries they allegedly experienced from Ethicon’s Gynecare pelvic mesh and bladder sling products claim that the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary has failed to provide the necessary documentation needed so that the litigation may proceed.
“Defendants Ethicon Inc. and Johnson and Johnson have lost, destroyed, or disposed of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of documents and other evidence containing information vital to this litigation,” the plaintiffs claim in a memorandum filed in early December.
More than 15,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits have been filed against Ethicon by women who allege they suffered from painful injuries from Ethicon’s vaginal mesh Gynecare products. Ethicon’s products have reportedly caused complications such as perforating organs, vaginal erosion, infections, blood vessel laceration, and recurrent prolapse or incontinence, causing severe pain that often lead women to undergo corrective surgery.
The memorandum alleges that Ethicon did not put the required hold on documents that are relevant to the vaginal mesh lawsuits in question. On the contrary, the job of preserving documents was allegedly left to the care of individual employees, and when those employees left the company, the documents they oversaw were often destroyed, unless the employee made sure that it didn’t happen prior to leaving his or her post.
One situation cited by the plaintiffs occurred when Renee Selman, Ethicon’s worldwide president, left her position in 2010, and all the information on her hard drive was reportedly destroyed, seven years after a litigation hold had been put on Ethicon’s computers.
“Selman testified that she was aware of the litigation hold … she knew not to delete relevant documents, and she followed procedures closely, placing documents in properly designated folders,” the memorandum on spoliation explains.
“But Ethicon has only produced about 25 documents for Ms. Selman, a remarkably low number for someone who was head of the company for five years, and has admitted that it destroyed all documents that Ms. Selman has saved on her hard drive.”
The plaintiffs claim that there was a similar situation with chief medical officer and worldwide president of evidence-based medicine, Ramy Mahmoud.
They allege that with some of the employees, Ethicon produced a minimal amount of documents, but when further discovery was made, it was found that there were often thousands more Ethicon did not disclose on its own.
“The spoliation in this case was extreme—starting with nearly all of the information in the files of Ethicon’s five-year worldwide president, as well as boxes and boxes of Medscand documents related to the development of the TVT products,” the plaintiffs allege.
“Defendant’s spoliation of evidence was systemic and continual over the last ten years,” the motion states. “It was not limited to one employee, to a set of employees or to a department. Instead, it was a systemic failure at all levels, from Ethicon’s sales personnel to its president.”
Due to the spoliation of evidence that the plaintiffs allege, they are asking that the court make a default judgement on the bellwether cases that are set to begin this year.
“The court should strike Ethicon’s learned intermediary defense and give a spoliation instruction to the jury,” the plaintiffs request.
The Ethicon vaginal mesh MDL is In Re Ethicon Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 2:12-md-02327, MDL No. 2327, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Charleston Division.
Help for Victims of Vaginal Mesh Complications
If you had revision surgery to repair damage caused by vaginal mesh, or you have surgery scheduled, you may be able to take legal action against the device manufacturer. These companies have already paid out millions of dollars in vaginal mesh lawsuit settlements and are continuing to settle cases. Don’t delay – see if you qualify to pursue compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages by filling out the short form at the Transvaginal Mesh, Bladder Sling Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
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One thought on Ethicon Accused of Destroying Documents in Vaginal Mesh MDL
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