$2.5 Million Verdict Against Coloplast -- First in the Country for Its Novasilk Pelvic Mesh

In 2009, Virginia Redding underwent surgery to address pelvic organ prolapse. Her surgeon implanted two Coloplast products: a Supris mid-urethral sling and a Novasilk pelvic mesh. Within years she was experiencing chronic pelvic pain, recurring infection, and bleeding. Imaging and further examination revealed that portions of both devices had begun eroding and migrating into surrounding tissue and organs.

Redding underwent two separate revision surgeries in an attempt to have the mesh removed. Because the material had fused permanently with her organs, surgeons could extract only portions of each device. Mesh fragments remained inside her body, and her symptoms persisted.

The Maher Law Firm (Winter Park, Florida) represented Redding as co-counsel alongside Wagstaff and Cartmell, and the case proceeded to a jury trial in April 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Steven R. Maher, Matthew Mokwa, and Geoffrey Thomas Moore of The Maher Law Firm appeared as counsel of record for the plaintiff, working with the Wagstaff and Cartmell trial team.

The jury found two independent failures on Coloplast's part. First, the Novasilk mesh contained a design defect. Second, Coloplast had not provided Redding's physician with adequate warnings about the known risks associated with the device. The jury determined that the failure to warn was a legal cause of Redding's injuries. On April 27, 2022, it returned a verdict of $2.5 million -- the first jury verdict in the country against Coloplast specifically for the Novasilk device.

Coloplast appealed, arguing that Redding's claims were time-barred under Florida's four-year products liability statute of limitations. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment on June 20, 2024. The appellate court held that sufficient evidence supported the jury's conclusion that Redding did not know, and should not reasonably have known, of her compensable injury before the limitations cutoff date. The $2.5 million award was not reduced.