Ethicon Inc., a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, told a jury a woman’s pain was not caused by its vaginal mesh products but by other health issues.

Ethicon has been defending itself against numerous lawsuits, alleging its vaginal mesh products failed, causing women to suffer and often have additional surgeries.

Plaintiff Carol C. alleges the Gynecare Prosima Pelvic Floor Repair System was unsafe and that Ethicon knew that while still heavily marketing the product.

The company, the lawsuit says, failed to warn about risks of using the vaginal mesh product. Meanwhile, Carol says the product caused her to suffer pain for two years.

Carol was diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse in April 2012 and underwent surgery to receive the Prosima vaginal mesh implant. After the surgery, she says she began suffering extreme pain and was having a hard time walking.

The vaginal mesh lawsuit claims the company’s own doctors and consultants had issued warnings about the vaginal mesh implant’s safety risks. Some of the documents presented during the trial described the vaginal mesh implant in question as a “reckless product,” and that doctors had “low confidence in the data.”

Carol’s vaginal mesh lawsuit further alleges that, though the company had knowledge of these risks, its desire for profit was greater than its interest in the safety of its customers. The plastic used in the Prosima vaginal mesh implant is too stiff for the vagina, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims the Prosima vaginal mesh product is unnecessary because there are alternative surgical techniques available to fix the  problem, but have much lower risks associated with them.

While Ethicon continues to claim that the Prosima vaginal mesh device involved in the lawsuit is not to blame for this woman’s pain, the company acknowledges it did remove the product from the market.

If you or someone you know has suffered from vaginal mesh or bladder sling complications, you may be able to file a vaginal mesh lawsuit.