Jury Decides For Wexler Wallace LLP Client Against J&J Subsidiary: $3.27 Million
September 5, 2014, Charleston, WV — After a two-week trial in Huskey v. Ethicon pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, an eight-member jury returned a verdict just before noon today for Wexler Wallace LLP client Jo Huskey, who was also represented by Jeffrey M. Kuntz of Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP and Fidelma L. Fitzpatrick of Motley Rice LLC. The jury found that Huskey had proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, her claims for defective design, failure to warn, and negligence related to the implantation of transvaginal tape manufactured by Ethicon, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Ms. Huskey was awarded $3.27 million for her injuries.
Edward Wallace’s closing argument highlighted the evidence the plaintiffs presented during the trial, and noted that:
“Ethicon was not careful,” and while there is “nothing wrong with competing and getting to the market quickly,” Ethicon did not put patient safety first. “Ethicon cut corners. . . . They launched first and worried about problems later. [Are those] the actions of a reasonable person or company? Again, I have to live by the rules and so does Ethicon.”