A judge has made a ruling that will have Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) pay a fine of $344 million. This was after the company was found guilty of engaging in deceptive marketing activities of some transvaginal pelvic mesh implants. Reports indicate that thousands of women in California were affected by the use of these products.
The company unhappy with the court’s ruling
This business has expressed dissatisfaction in the ruling, asserting that it isn’t taking the blow lying down. It outlines that it has already started making preparations targeted at staging a strong appeal for the monumental ruling. It takes the strong stand that in making the ruling, the judge disregarded its compliance with the federal regulations.
Market observers have spoken about the matter, saying that they see the ruling as a civil penalty directed towards the business giant. They admit that they had heard about the company’s involvement in the sale of the pelvic mesh products.
A closer outlook
Johnson & Johnson won’t have it easy winning even in the appeal, according to lawyers who say that the pelvic mesh products have hurt a lot of women. According to them, a large number of women had believed in the products, eventually using them in the treatment of a condition known as the organ prolapsed.
It has also been disclosed that some mesh manufacturers have been making efforts to settle the various inured women. Reports place the total amount of the payouts to stand at about $8 billion.
Eddie Sturgeon is the name of the judge who made the ruling in the San Diego Superior Court, and a lot has come out after the judgment. The amount to be paid in line with the damages was less than $800 million.
In the previous year, the state had given out an order outlining that the company pays a full amount of $8 billion in the form of damages to the affected women. Sturgeon cushioned the company by allowing it to pay an amount that was lesser than the figure declared by the state.
It was back in 2016 that the attorney general in California decided to move to court to file a lawsuit to hold the company accountable.
