A Texas jury has ordered Johnson and Johnson to pay $1.2 million to a plaintiff who claimed that her vaginal mesh implant was defective.

The jury decided that the design of the mesh implant was defective and awarded Linda Batiste the large sum as compensation for damages and pain after the device eroded inside her.

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is currently facing more than 12,000 independent lawsuits from women who claim to have suffered significant pain and injuries because of faulty design and manufacturing of the implanted devices. Typically, plaintiffs assert that the vaginal mesh and sling devices damage women's internal organs, exacerbate incontinence, and make sexual activity painful.

Vaginal Mesh Side Effects

Vaginal Mesh Side Effects Include:

• Mesh Erosion (mesh protruding through skin)
• Pain during intercourse or urination
• Chronic pain
• Infection
• Urinary problems
• Mesh shrinkage causing vaginal shortening, tightening and pain
• Bleeding
• Mesh migration
• Vaginal tightening
• Bladder, blood vessel, or bowel perforation
• Dyspareunia (pain during intercourse) caused by vaginal mesh erosion and vaginal scarring
• Additional corrective surgeries for repair or removal
• Recurrence of POP or SU

Vaginal Mesh Makers Ordered To Study Organ Damage

The U.S. Food And Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered J&J and many other pharmaceutical companies to study the rates and effects of organ damage associated with the mesh after a deluge of lawsuits hit companies that manufacture the device.

J&J Plans to appeal the verdict, and cited the Dallas' jury rejection of plaintiff claims that proper warnings about the vaginal implant's risks were not clear. For that reason, the jury decided to not award punitive damages.

Last year, a jury in New Jersey ruled that J&J must pay $11.1 million to a woman who claimed her Prolift implant caused significant injury, pain and suffering.