Judge Orders Release of Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon, Inc. Safety Data

A few months ago, Judge Carol E. Higbee, who is overseeing the consolidated Ethicon vaginal mesh lawsuits in New Jersey Superior Court, scheduled the first bellwether trials to begin in November 2012. Now, Judge Higbee has ordered Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to release post-marketing safety data and FDA correspondence related to its mesh products. The data is likely to include safety information the FDA requested in January 2012 from 30 transvaginal mesh device manufacturers. The FDA asked for 3 years of data on the safety and effectiveness of various mesh products.