Judge Stanley Marcus, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Handout photo)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has upheld nearly $27 million worth of judgments against Boston Scientific Corp. for four Florida pelvic mesh cases.

The appeals court denied the company's claims of error in a decision released Thursday. Judge Stanley Marcus wrote for a panel that included Judge Frank Hull and Judge John Rogers of the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation.

“After thorough review, and having had the benefit of oral argument, we can discern no error in the district court's rulings, and accordingly we affirm the judgment,” Marcus wrote.

The decision upholds the decisions of District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin of the Southern District of West Virginia, who presided over four cases that were transferred out of multidistrict litigation in his state to the Southern District of Florida. Goodwin denied Boston Scientific's motions to sever the four cases on the grounds that they were different and to exclude evidence that the product had been approved by the Federal Drug Administration.

Daniel Rogers of Shook Hardy & Bacon in Miami spoke for Boston Scientific at oral arguments in May. Rebecca Vargas of Kreusler-Walsh Compiani & Vargas in West Palm Beach argued for the women, including her client Amal Eghnayem.

The attorneys could not be reached Friday. Staff members said they were in court. But a review of the docket shows that Boston Scientific has been settling the claims for unnamed amounts while the appeal has been pending. The day before Marcus released his decision, Rogers filed a notice of tentative settlement reached with the last woman. Vargas signed the agreement, which said a final settlement would be entered in the next two weeks.

The women presented 25 witnesses, mostly doctors, in support of their claims of complications from surgeries to correct pelvic organ prolapse using Boston Scientific's product during an eight-day trial in 2014. Among the issues Marcus mentioned in the opinion were pain, painful intercourse, incontinence, pieces of the plastic mesh being exposed requiring more surgery and loss of vaginal sensitivity.

The jury awarded each woman more than $6 million, Marcus said. The verdicts ranged from $6.5 million to nearly $6.8 million.

“The long and short of it is that the district court properly exercised its broad discretion in consolidating these actions and refusing to admit FDA evidence, and the contested fact questions were properly presented to the jury,” Marcus concluded.

The case is Amal Eghnayem v. Boston Scientific, No. 16-11818.

Judge Stanley Marcus, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Handout photo)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has upheld nearly $27 million worth of judgments against Boston Scientific Corp. for four Florida pelvic mesh cases.

The appeals court denied the company's claims of error in a decision released Thursday. Judge Stanley Marcus wrote for a panel that included Judge Frank Hull and Judge John Rogers of the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation.

“After thorough review, and having had the benefit of oral argument, we can discern no error in the district court's rulings, and accordingly we affirm the judgment,” Marcus wrote.

The decision upholds the decisions of District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin of the Southern District of West Virginia, who presided over four cases that were transferred out of multidistrict litigation in his state to the Southern District of Florida. Goodwin denied Boston Scientific's motions to sever the four cases on the grounds that they were different and to exclude evidence that the product had been approved by the Federal Drug Administration.

Daniel Rogers of Shook Hardy & Bacon in Miami spoke for Boston Scientific at oral arguments in May. Rebecca Vargas of Kreusler-Walsh Compiani & Vargas in West Palm Beach argued for the women, including her client Amal Eghnayem.

The attorneys could not be reached Friday. Staff members said they were in court. But a review of the docket shows that Boston Scientific has been settling the claims for unnamed amounts while the appeal has been pending. The day before Marcus released his decision, Rogers filed a notice of tentative settlement reached with the last woman. Vargas signed the agreement, which said a final settlement would be entered in the next two weeks.

The women presented 25 witnesses, mostly doctors, in support of their claims of complications from surgeries to correct pelvic organ prolapse using Boston Scientific's product during an eight-day trial in 2014. Among the issues Marcus mentioned in the opinion were pain, painful intercourse, incontinence, pieces of the plastic mesh being exposed requiring more surgery and loss of vaginal sensitivity.

The jury awarded each woman more than $6 million, Marcus said. The verdicts ranged from $6.5 million to nearly $6.8 million.

“The long and short of it is that the district court properly exercised its broad discretion in consolidating these actions and refusing to admit FDA evidence, and the contested fact questions were properly presented to the jury,” Marcus concluded.

The case is Amal Eghnayem v. Boston Scientific, No. 16-11818.