Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Women Being Sucked Into Assembly Line-Like System That Drums Up Patients For Lawsuits Against Companies
The New York Times: How Profiteers Lure Women Into Often-Unneeded Surgery
Jerri Plummer was at home in Arkansas, watching television with her three children, when a stranger called to warn that her life was in danger. The caller identified herself only as Yolanda. She told Ms. Plummer that the vaginal mesh implant supporting her bladder was defective and needed to be removed. If Ms. Plummer didn’t act quickly, the caller urged, she might die. (Goldstein and Silver-Greenberg, 4/14)
Bloomberg: C.R. Bard Must Pay Punitive $35 Million In Vaginal-Mesh Case
C.R. Bard Inc. was ordered to pay $35 million in punitive damages to a woman who blamed her injuries on the company’s vaginal mesh inserts in the medical supplier’s first case over the controversial devices to go to trial in New Jersey. The punishment award handed down Friday brings to $68 million the amount that Bard must pay to Mary McGinnis and her husband. McGinnis said Bard inserts designed to bolster organs and address incontinence issues were defective and left her in permanent pain. (Feeley, 4/13)
