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Johnson & Johnson should pay $344 million in damages because the company deceptively marketed transvaginal pelvic mesh implants to tens of thousands of women in California, a judge ruled Thursday. Johnson & Johnson said it intended to appeal the ruling, which it said “disregards” the company’s compliance with federal regulations. The judgment was framed as a civil penalty against the company related to sales practices for its pelvic mesh products, which have been the subject of years of personal injury litigation from women who used them to treat a condition called organ prolapse. (Goldstein, 1/30)

“Johnson & Johnson knew the danger of its mesh products but put profits ahead of the health of millions of women," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. The products, also called transvaginal mesh, are a synthetic surgically implanted through the vagina of women whose pelvic organs have sagged or who suffer from stress urinary incontinence when they cough, sneeze or lift heavy objects. (1/30)

San Diego Superior Court Judge Eddie Sturgeon on Thursday ordered the company to pay the penalty, after a trial in 2019. “J&J knew the dangers but put its profits ahead of the health of millions of women,” California’s current attorney general, Xavier Becerra, said in a statement. “Today we achieved justice for the women forever scarred by this dishonesty.” (Loftus, 1/30)

The pelvic mesh products are permanent surgical implants designed to treat stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women. A spokeswoman said Johnson & Johnson will appeal, and noted that the process can take up to three years. “Ethicon responsibly communicated the risks and benefits of its transvaginal mesh products to doctors and patients, and the decision disregards the Company’s full compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration laws on medical device communications and the appropriateness of its actions,” Mindy Tinsley said in a statement to The Hill. (Weixel, 1/30)