Boston Scientific Prevails in North Carolina Mesh Case

The Uphold Vaginal Support System is a transvaginal mesh product used to treat pelvic organ prolapse (“POP”).  Marta Carlson sued Boston Scientific Corporation (“Boston Scientific”), the maker of the Uphold Vaginal Support System, and asserted that the device caused her to suffer chronic vaginal pain, difficulty during intercourse and incontinence. Ms. Carlson sued Boston Scientific for claims of breach of implied warranty, negligent design and strict liability failure to warn.

Boston Scientific claimed that Uphold device did not cause Ms. Carlson’s injuries and it helped to treat her POP. Boston Scientific alleged that had Ms. Carlson not been implanted with the device, her POP would have continued progressing.

Ms. Carlson’s lawsuit was transferred to the multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) which is pending in the Southern District of West Virginia (In re Boston Scientific Corp. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2326). On April 29, 2015, the MDL Judge granted a summary judgment against Ms. Carlson’s on her claims of strict liability failure to warn. However, the MDL judge allowed the claims of negligent design and breach of implied warranty to proceed to trial. The case was then remanded to the Western District of North Carolina for trial.

A North Carolina jury found in favor of Boston Scientific following a 10 day trial, the jury found that Boston Scientific did not act unreasonable in designing the Uphold device and did not breach the implied warranty of merchantability.