Revealed: Johnson & Johnson's 'irresponsible' actions over vaginal mesh implant

Woman awarded record $57m damages over implant launched with no clinical trial and marketed despite higher failure rate

A vaginal mesh implant made by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was launched without a clinical trial, and then marketed for five years after the company learned that it had a higher failure rate than their two earlier devices.

Internal company emails disclosed in a US court case, in which a 51-year-old woman was awarded a record $57m in damages this month, also show that senior executives even briefly considered suppressing unfavourable data that "could compromise the future" of the device.