An Arizona woman filed a lawsuit against Ethicon Inc. for the injuries she allegedly suffered from the company’s vaginal mesh product. The TVT vaginal mesh sling was used in her surgery, and the complications she suffered were allegedly due to the product being defective.

Plaintiff Dorothy Armstrong had the TVT vaginal mesh implanted into her on Sept. 18, 2002. Vaginal mesh implants are used to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

The vaginal mesh lawsuit contends that the vaginal mesh product directly caused her injury. Not long after the implantation of the vaginal mesh product, Armstrong said she started experiencing debilitating pain. Diagnostic testing revealed that the mesh had been causing slight tears in her tissue, and was causing a major infection.

Armstrong had chosen to use the TVT under the assumption that it was reasonably safe and effective for its purpose, and had not been warned of the possible injuries she could suffer at the time she got the device, her vaginal mesh lawsuit said.

Armstrong’s vaginal mesh lawsuit will be joining the multidistrict litigation (MDL) that was formed due to the large number of vaginal mesh complaints. The MDL is a collection of lawsuits that make similar allegations.

Ethicon is accused of negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

The Vaginal Mesh Implant MDL is In Re: Ethicon Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2327, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Overview of Vaginal Mesh Complications

The Ethicon TVT is a part of the Ethicon TVT sling family, which have been used in POP and SUI procedures for more than 11 years, and have been used to treat millions of patients worldwide. There have been numerous injury reports indicating that vaginal mesh products can cause serious injuries to patients, including mesh tearing and erosion. This has led to hundreds of lawsuits being filed against vaginal mesh manufacturers, for failing to warn the public and medical community of these complications.

At the time vaginal mesh was first used, it was considered a medical miracle to many female patients because they could treat their POP and SUI conditions in a discreet manner. While it is generally considered a success by many, thousands of women and their families have filed lawsuits against mesh manufacturers due to the severe injuries they have suffered.

Many lawyers blame the complications on the FDA for allowing the products to be used under a clause that permits certain products to the American market without pre-clinical trials as long as they prove to work on equivalent levels with a similar product already on the market.