Yesterday, a New Jersey jury found that Ethicon/J&J committed fraud and failed to warn doctors of known risks associated with its transvaginal mesh product, Prolift. In light of its decision, the jury is now considering whether to award punitive damages. Punitive damages are different than compensation or reimbursement to an injured party for the harm specifically caused to her. They are damages specifically intended to punish the defendant for its wrongful conduct and they should be sufficient enough to deter and discourage the defendant, in this case Ethicon/J&J, from committing the similar bad acts in the future.
This morning, the jury heard evidence of Ethicon/J&J's net worth and will now decide whether the company's wrongful conduct rises to a level sufficient to award punitive damages. The jury was told that Ethicon/J&J has total assets in the amount of $121.3 billion and a net worth of $64 billion. They were also told that Ethicon/J&J spends approximately $52 million per day on advertising and marketing its products, which is roughly $3.3 million every 45 minutes of every day (the same amount awarded to the Plaintiff for her past and future injuries, lost wages, and medical bills caused by Ethicon/J&J).
Assuming punitive damages are warranted, how much do you think it would take to punish Ethicon/J&J and deter them from committing similar bad acts in the future?
Very Informative! This blog is great source of information which is very useful for me. Thank you very much for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteJersey Laws