NEW JERSEY (REUTERS) - A New Jersey jury on Thursday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay US$7.76 million (S$9.7 million) in punitive damages to a South Dakota nurse who claimed harm from the company's now-recalled Prolift vaginal mesh.

The diversified healthcare company said in a statement that it would "vigorously" appeal the award from the Atlantic City jury.

The jury on Monday awarded the same woman US$3.35 million in other compensation, saying J&J failed to adequately warn her doctors of potential dangers from the vaginal mesh implant made by J&J's Ethicon subsidiary.