Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $344M in pelvic mesh case

Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman Mindy Tinsley said the New Jersey-based company plans to appeal the decision. (File photo: Johnson & Johnson/Facebook)

SAN DIEGO — A San Diego judge on Thursday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay nearly $344 million in penalties for deceptively marketing pelvic mesh devices for women.

Superior Court Judge Eddie Sturgeon ruled against the medical giant in a lawsuit brought by the California Department of Justice in 2016.

Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman Mindy Tinsley said the New Jersey-based company plans to appeal the decision.

The California attorney general’s office said it was the first time a court has ruled that the company engaged in false and deceptive business practices.

“Johnson & Johnson knew the danger of its mesh products but put profits ahead of the health of millions of women,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

The company is dealing with thousands of lawsuits over drug side effects, its role in the U.S. opioid epidemic and allegations its baby powder caused cancer in some users and its surgical mesh for sagging pelvic organs injured patients.

In October, Johnson & Johnson agreed to a $117 million settlement with 41 states and the District of Columbia over similar allegations involving the mesh devices.

The products, also called transvaginal mesh, are a synthetic surgically implanted through the vagina of women whose pelvic organs have sagged or who suffer from stress urinary incontinence when they cough, sneeze or lift heavy objects. Such incontinence is estimated to affect 3% to 17% of women and sometimes becomes severe after age 70.

At the time of the multi-state settlement, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon surgical products unit said the company did not admit misconduct and that the devices were considered the “gold standard” by many for treating incontinence.

Last week, Johnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of health care products, reported net income of $4.01 billion, or $1.50 per share — an increase from $3.04 billion a year earlier.

Higher prescription drug sales and lower legal costs drove its fourth-quarter profit 32% higher.

After the most recent earnings report, Erik Gordon, a professor and pharmaceuticals analyst at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, commented on the legal issues in an email to The Associated Press.

“A big question hanging over the company is how many billions of dollars it may have to pay as a result of the wave of products liability lawsuits it faces,” he wrote.