Daniel Higginbotham, a partner at Thomas Combs & Spann, PLLC in Charleston, West Virginia and a Vice Chair of IADC’s Drug Device and Biotechnology Committee, received a defense verdict on behalf of Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Ethicon, Inc. on July 1, 2022 in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Daniel tried the case with Heather Perkins, a partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Denver, Colorado, and Amy Pepke, a partner at Butler Snow in Memphis, Tennessee.
The case, styled Shostrom v. Ethicon, Inc. et al., involved a medical device manufactured by Ethicon. The plaintiff alleged the device was defectively designed, contained inadequate warnings, and caused her permanent, disfiguring injuries. She asserted six causes of action.
After a two-week trial before the Honorable William J. Martinez, the jury unanimously rejected all six of the plaintiff’s claims and returned a verdict in favor of Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon. The jury deliberated for less than one hour before reaching its verdict.