A federal judge in West Virginia has denied Boston Scientific’s request to vacate a multi-million dollar pelvic mesh verdict from 2014.

U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin affirmed the $14.3 million award in a medical device liability case over defendant Boston Scientific’s pelvic mesh products.

The pelvic mesh verdict was granted in November 2014 to a small group of plaintiffs who filed suit over the Obtryx Transobturator Mid-Urethral Sling System made by Boston Scientific.

The plaintiffs claimed the sling was defectively designed in a way that led to excessive complications. They also claimed Boston Scientific failed to properly warn them about the complications they could reasonably expect after being implanted with the sling.

Boston Scientific challenged the award, claiming that supposed flaws in the jury instructions and closing arguments tainted the jury’s judgment.

The company argued that in the plaintiffs’ counsel’s closing argument, he impermissibly invited the jury to make a decision based on their own sympathy, not on the facts and law presented.

The resulting pelvic mesh verdict ran contrary to the evidence presented during the 10-day trial, the company claimed.

Judge Godwin disagreed, finding the pelvic mesh verdict was legally sound and supported by the evidence.

He noted that using a directed verdict or new trial to undo a jury’s award is an extraordinary option that should only be exercised in exceptional circumstances, and that Boston Scientific had failed to show such circumstances were present in this case.

Three of the original four plaintiffs will share in the final jury award. The fourth plaintiff reached a settlement with Boston Scientific before the jury award was issued.

Pelvic Mesh Complications

The devices at issue in this and similar pelvic mesh lawsuits are implants used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence in women.

Plaintiffs claim some of these implants are poorly designed in a way that leads to complications like organ damage and abdominal pain.

Reports of complications associated with these devices led the FDA in 2012 to order Boston Scientific and more than 30 other manufacturers to study rates of complications associated with these devices.

Pelvic Mesh Verdict One of Many for Boston Scientific

This jury award is one among others assessed against Boston Scientific in the past two years, and it is far from the smallest. In all, over 70,000 pelvic mesh lawsuits have been filed across the U.S.

A Delaware jury awarded one plaintiff $100 million in May 2015 over allegations that Boston Scientific’s Pinnacle and Advantage Fit inserts left her in constant pain and unable to have sex.

Another couple who sued in Texas state court was ultimately granted an award of $34.5 million – reduced on review from the original $73 million granted by the jury.

These awards for plaintiffs who took the chance of going to trial dwarf the shares offered to thousands of other plaintiffs who have already settled. In April 2015, Boston Scientific wrapped up an agreement to settle nearly 3,000 claims for a total of $119 million.

The Boston Scientific Pelvic Mesh Lawsuit is Case No. 2:12-cv-08633 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.