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Jury Awards $3.35 Million to Victim of Prolift Vaginal Mesh Injuries

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A New Jersey state court jury today awarded $3.35 million to 47-year-old Linda Gross, a woman whose life took a significant turn for the worse in 2006 after she received a Prolift vaginal mesh implant manufactured by Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon unit.

Concluding the trial of the first of the 2,100 personal injury cases over the Prolift vaginal mesh implant kit pending in New Jersey Superior Court to be tried, the jury found that Ethicon had failed to provide an adequate warning to Linda Gross's implanting surgeon, Dr. Benson. (Gross v. Gynecare Inc., Atl-L-6966-10, Superior Court of Atlantic County, New Jersey). The jury further found that the company had made fraudulent representations to Gross and Benson.

About $185,000 of the $3.35 million jury award was allocated to Gross's husband for loss of consortium. The rest was awarded to compensate Gross for her past and future pain, suffering, medical costs and lost wages.

A 47-year-old former nurse, Gross testified that Ethicon's Prolift vaginal mesh implant has rendered her unable to work, have sex with her husband, or sit comfortably for more than 20 minutes at a time. Gross also said that, as a result of the Prolift mesh, she takes up to 20 medications a day and has undergone more than 400 medical encounters, including physical therapy sessions, doctor visits, and many surgeries.

As part of the closing arguments he delivered at the trial, counsel for the claimant showed the jury e-mails and re-played videotaped deposition testimony evidencing Ethicon Corp.'s repeated decisions to ignore reports of complications related to its Prolift vaginal mesh in a rush to get that mesh to market.

As a representative of women who claim they've been harmed by vaginal mesh products, Rochelle Rottenstein, principal of the Rottenstein Law Group, implores women who believe that they, like Linda Gross, have been hurt by vaginal mesh products to call the Rottenstein Law Group's offices for a free evaluation of their ability to file a lawsuit right away.

"This verdict is great news for anyone interested in recovering compensation for injuries caused by Ethicon's Prolift vaginal mesh," said Rottenstein. "All the women who've been hurt by Prolift vaginal mesh—and their surgeons—likely read the Ethicon Prolift marketing material that Linda Gross and her implanting surgeon relied upon when they decided to go through with Prolift surgery, and the New Jersey Superior Court jury found that the material didn't adequately warn the public and contained fraudulent statements."

The Rottenstein Law Group's website describes all of the issues vaginal mesh patients face and explains their options. A free informational brochure on the process of seeking compensation is also available for download.

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

SOURCE Rottenstein Law Group