J&J in Court Filings: Mesh Plaintiffs are Being Illegally Solicited

Johnson & Johnson filed a complaint in a federal court in West Virginia alleging that “unscrupulous groups and individuals” are soliciting women who used the company’s vaginal mesh implants to file fraudulent lawsuits against the company.

J&J and its Ethicon unit are currently facing tens of thousands of lawsuits by women who claim that the devices — implanted to treat urinary incontinence — caused organ perforation, pain, scarring and nerve damage.

But in a Wednesday filing, J&J said the devices are considered standard treatment for this ailment and have been studied more than most devices on the market. The company maintains the volume of cases is being inflated through inappropriate solicitation of women.

J&J says it has been contacted by six women who said they were told that the devicemaker disclosed their private medical information.

Some of the women received up to 50 calls a month, and some solicitors went so far as to encourage women to lie about receiving the surgery, the filing says. J&J is asking U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin, who oversees the federal mesh lawsuits, to allow for an investigation of the calls. — Kellen Owings