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# Reverse CA Decision Punishing Scientific Speech: WLF
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/reverse-ca-decision-punishing-scientific-speech-wlf/
- Published: 2021-09-23T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T17:15:51.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Devices, #legacy-id-D5150210

Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) says the California Court of Appeals should reverse a trial court decision that imposed $344 million in civil penalties on Ethicon for disseminating what WLF says is fully protected scientific speech. A WLF [statement](https://www.wlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9202021JJvCalif.PR%5F.pdf?ref=fdaweb.com) says the trial court found that every communication the defendants made about Ethicon’s pelvic-mesh products, whether to doctors or patients, written or verbal, violated California law. The penalty is larger than all other reported California awards combined, WLF says.

The statement says the trial judge “indiscriminately relied on materials in which Ethicon’s allegedly ‘deceptive’ statements did no more than accurately describe the results of scientific studies on matters of genuine scientific debate. In other words, without even considering the First Amendment implications of doing so, the trial court imposed liability based on protected scientific speech.”

In its *amicus* brief, WLF argues that the trial court erred by imposing liability without considering the First Amendment, which shields reasonably debatable scientific claims from liability. The brief also contends that allowing the trial court judgment to stand would irreparably chill scientific speech on vital matters of public health.