J&J's Vaginal-Mesh Costs May Rise If $5 Million Deal Is a Guide
- Settlement became public when woman's lawyer sought legal fees
- New Jersey case `presented unique circumstances,' J&J says
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Johnson & Johnson hasn’t disclosed how much it’s set aside to cover the risk from lawsuits by women who say they were injured by vaginal-mesh inserts, or what the company has already paid to settle such cases confidentially. But a $5 million settlement recently became public, giving a glimpse of how much it could cost to resolve the claims.
The accord was made part of the public record when the plaintiff’s lawyer asked a judge to approve his legal fees in the case. While it’s just one suit -- J&J still faces more than 46,000 such cases, according to its regulatory filings -- judges in New Jersey and West Virginia are pressing the company to resolve them.