Boston Scientific to pay $100 million to Delaware woman

On Thursday, a Delaware jury ordered Boston Scientific Corp. to pay $100 million to a woman who claimed she was injured by a device that is the subject of more than 25,000 lawsuits.

The verdict over Boston Scientific's transvaginal mesh inserts awarded 51-year-old Deborah Barba of Delaware $25 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages.

According to Barba's lawsuit, which was filed in 2011, she was implanted with Boston Scientific's Pinnacle and Advantage Fit mesh products in 2009. It was done to pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.

However, she claimed the devices caused serious complications. She also underwent two subsequent surgeries to try to fix the problems. However, despite the surgeries, parts of the devices are still in her body and continue to give her pain.

According to Fidelma Fitzpatrick, one of Barba's lawyers, mesh complications had profoundly changed Barba's life. She just wanted that lawsuit's verdict would persuade Boston Scientific and other mesh makers to settle the remaining cases.

Jurors found that Boston Scientific had been negligent in designing and making the devices and had failed to warn patients and doctors about potential risks.

The verdict is the largest one in litigation over transvaginal mesh devices against any other mesh manufacturer. A Boston Scientific spokeswoman said the company strongly disagreed with the verdict and wants to appeal against it.

Last month, the company announced that it had reached agreements to pay about $119 million to resolve 2,970 cases about transvaginal mesh.

Vijay Kumar, an analyst at Evercore ISI in New York, said, "From a headline perspective, $100 million is a big number. It might make Boston Scientific rethink its litigation strategy. It might force the company to think about settling more of these claims".