A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary asked a New Jersey appeals court Feb. 23 to overturn an $11.1 million verdict awarded in the first bellwether trial over allegedly harmful pelvic mesh implants.

Charles Lifland, representing the subsidiary, Ethicon, acknowledged that the plaintiff sustained serious injuries as a result of having the implant and that the company was “sympathetic” to the plaintiff, but added that the verdict should not be allowed to stand.