Design Defect Claim Proceeds in N.J. Federal Ethicon Pelvic Mesh Action

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge has allowed a design defect claim to proceed against Ethicon in a pelvic mesh action, ruling the plaintiff’s expert, Dr. Bruce Rosenzweig, proposed viable safer alternative designs, including the allograft sling and a transobturator sling using UltraPro mesh.

However, in the April 29 order, Judge Freda Wolfson of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey awarded Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson summary judgment on the claim for failure to warn, ruling the plaintiff failed to present evidence that her surgeon would have altered his decision to use the device …