C.R. Bard Inc. owes $5.5 million in damages over a vaginal-mesh implant that left a woman incontinent and in chronic pain, a California jury ruled in the first case over the devices to go to trial. Jurors in state court in Bakersfield concluded July 20 that Christine Scott and her husband deserved the damage award because of injuries caused by Bard’s Avaulta Plus vaginal implant, Elaine Houghton, one of the couple’s lawyers, said in a phone interview yesterday. The panel found Bard officials were negligent in their handling of the devices, used to treat pelvic organs that bulge, or prolapse, or to deal with incontinence, she said.
