Posted: Monday, June 9, 2014 12:33 pm
Injured Women Call on Washington Attorney General to Investigate
Johnson & Johnson:
Washington
Women Cite Injuries and Public Health Care Costs in Letter to AG Ferguson
Olympia,
WA – Washington women who have been seriously injured by pelvic mesh implants
asked Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to investigate Johnson &
Johnson for its dangerous pelvic mesh implants, citing their personal health
problems and costs
incurred by Washington taxpayers.
“We
ask that Attorney General Ferguson investigate Johnson & Johnson and its CEO Alex Gorsky for selling dangerous products
to women throughout the state of Washington. The damage this product has caused
already has cost taxpayers too much money through Medicaid and other state
public health systems,” stated Jane Akre, who has been organizing survivors of
pelvic mesh implants for more than five years.
“Across
Washington, women are being hurt by Johnson & Johnson’s dangerous products,
and the company’s top executive, CEO Alex Gorsky, needs to be held accountable for the women he has
hurt,” added Akre. “Pelvic mesh implants are perhaps the most dangerous
product to women’s health on the market today. Gorsky should immediately take
this dangerous pelvic mesh product off the market.”
More
than 70,000 separate
lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers of pelvic mesh implants.
Local survivors in Washington signed onto today’s request for an investigation.
"Johnson
& Johnson should be investigated because too many have suffered too long,
and they need to bring a stop to it,” stated survivor Danyelle Robinson of
Washington. “Something has to be done to assure there are substantial
penalties."
See
the letter to Attorney General Ferguson directly below.
#
# #
June
9, 2014
By
Facsimile: 206-587-5636
The
Honorable Bob Ferguson
Attorney
General
Washington
State Office of the Attorney General
1125
Washington Street SE
PO
Box 40100
Olympia,
WA 98504-0100
Dear
Attorney General Ferguson,
As
survivors of pelvic mesh implants and Washington taxpayers, we request that
your office immediately begin investigating whether Johnson and Johnson should
be held liable for
expenses incurred by the state as a result of dangerous and defective
pelvic implants.
Johnson and Johnson is the largest
producer of pelvic mesh implants in the world. This product is creating a health crisis among women
across the state of Washington, which in turn is resulting in significant costs to the states'
public health systems.
Specifically,
we ask for you to investigate Johnson and Johnson and its Chairman Alex Gorsky
for possible violation of section 19.86.20 of the Revised Code of Washington
for deceptive and
fraudulent business for their knowledge of the danger of the mesh
implants and the public health systems’ costs to the taxpayers of Washington.
This
request follows the recent revelation by a West Virginia court that Johnson and
Johnson destroyed numerous
documents relevant to lawsuits filed against the company by thousands of
women across the United States who have been seriously injured by the company’s
pelvic mesh implants.[1]
It
is critical that the Washington State Office of the Attorney General pursue
this matter to recoup the state taxpayer dollars Medicaid and other public
health systems have been and will be forced to spend to treat women who have
been injured. Action by the state attorney general will also demonstrate that a
major U.S. corporation should not destroy evidence in judicial proceedings. The
destruction of this
evidence undermines the ability of Washington women who have been hurt by
Johnson & Johnson to receive justice.
Background
In
the last few years, medical device manufacturers including Johnson &
Johnson have come under fire for marketing dangerous medical devices, drugs and
other consumer products, often without receiving proper regulatory approval.
Many of these companies, including Johnson & Johnson, have paid billions of
dollars in fines in litigation and settlement costs and made repeated pledges
of reform, yet continue to display an indifferent attitude toward the harm they have
caused as well as a willingness
to evade the law.
Currently,
Johnson & Johnson faces thousands of product liability lawsuits relating to
the company’s pelvic mesh implants, marketed most commonly as treatment for
pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. There are estimated to
be hundreds of thousands of women that have been – and continue to be -
implanted with these dangerous products. Women have suffered severe pain and
injuries due to ineffective and dangerous implants.
Investigations
into the pelvic mesh products produced by several companies, including Johnson
& Johnson, date back to before October 20, 2008, when the FDA first issued
a Public Health Notification.[2]
Beginning
in March 2005, Johnson & Johnson sold one of its most popular devices, the
Gynecare Prolift, without alerting the Food and Drug Administration for three
years. When the FDA was made aware of the Prolift device, the agency informed
Johnson & Johnson that the device required government approval.[3] In May
2008, the Prolift was cleared for sale under the 510(k) process under the claim
of “substantial equivalence” to devices already on the market. It had never
been rigorously tested nor demonstrated effective in clinical trials.[4]
Further
indicating Johnson & Johnson knew how harmful pelvic mesh implants were but
nevertheless continued marketing the defective product to unsuspecting women,
the company destroyed thousands of documents regarding the implants. Although
top company executives initially denied it, a magistrate judge found that
Ethicon, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson that manufactured
the implants, destroyed documents pertaining to their effectiveness and safety
as far back as 2007.[5] Alex Gorsky, the current Chairman and CEO of Johnson
& Johnson, was named head of Ethicon in 2008, before most of the documents
were destroyed, and has continued to oversee it in his climb through the
company’s ranks.[6]
Apparent
Violation of Law
Johnson
and Johnson and its CEO Alex Gorsky may be in violation of section 19.86.20 of
the Revised Code of Washington for unfair or deceptive business practices
concerning both his corporation’s knowledge of the inherent danger of the mesh
implants as well as the document destruction.
The
Washington State Office of the Attorney General has the authority to conduct a
comprehensive and thorough investigation into whether Johnson & Johnson, in
the course of advertising, soliciting, selling, promoting and distributing
pelvic mesh implants, has engaged in a course of trade or commerce that
constitutes unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and is therefore unlawful
under the Washington consumer protection laws by misrepresenting the safety of
pelvic mesh implants.
The
fact that Johnson & Johnson has offices and conducts business throughout
Washington only adds to the importance of your office pursuing this matter.
Johnson
& Johnson also may have violated Washington Case Law pertaining to
destroying physical evidence in an official proceeding.[7] In Pier 67, Inc. v.
King County, the Court held “where relevant evidence which would properly be a
part of a case is within the control of a party whose interests it would
naturally be to produce it and he fails to do so, without satisfactory
explanation, the only inference which the finder of fact may draw is that such
evidence would be unfavorable to him.”[8] Culpability turns on whether the
party acted in bad faith or whether there is an innocent explanation for the
destruction.[9]
After
initial denials by top executives, it is now clear that Johnson & Johnson
destroyed thousands of documents related to Ethicon’s development and marketing
of pelvic mesh implants.[10]
Johnson
& Johnson is one of the world’s largest corporations whose products are
used not only by women but also children and men. This investigation is
urgently needed as the lives and safety of so many women in Washington and
across the United States depend on it.
Please
do not hesitate to contact us if we can provide any further information. Thank
you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Patricia
Buchanan – Seattle, WA
Danyelle
Robinson – Spokane, WA
Mary
Wakefield – Colbert, WA
Elizabeth
Weber – Spokane, WA
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