A federal judge overseeing  thousands of vaginal mesh lawsuits against Ethicon Inc. has set a single consolidated trial for 26 women plaintiffs allegedly harmed by the company’s transvaginal mesh product.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin, who is overseeing more than 25,000 Ethicon vaginal mesh lawsuits consolidated under the national vaginal mesh MDL in the Southern District Court for West Virginia, has set a Nov. 2, trial date for 26 of these vaginal mesh lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon subsidiary.

According to reports, Ethicon does not seem willing to settle or resolve the thousands of pending vaginal mesh cases. However, Judge Goodwin is determined to move the cases in this pelvic mesh MDL forward.

The 26 plaintiffs of these Ethicon vaginal mesh lawsuits similarly allege that they were implanted one of Ethicon’s transvaginal mesh or transvaginal tape products as stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse treatments, but later suffered other injuries or side effects from this medical device that were meant to help them.

Vaginal Mesh Complications and Injuries

Transvaginal mesh products were first introduced to the American medical device market during the mid-1990s and were approved by the FDA in a fast-track approval process, which was based on the products’ similarity to other medical mesh products already on the market.

However, this means that many transvaginal products, like those made by Ethicon, were approved before adequate human testing with these medical devices could be performed.

Thousands of women allege that they experienced severe vaginal mesh complications after being implanted with a one of these medical devices. These vaginal mesh side effects include:

• Mesh erosion
• Mesh contraction
• Infection
• Fistula
• Inflammation
• Scar tissue
• Organ perforation
• Pain during intercourse
• Urinary problems
• Inability to void
• Blood loss
• Nerve damage and pain
• Pelvic floor damage
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Urinary incontinence
• Prolapse of organs

In the case of many of these vaginal mesh injuries, patients have required additional surgery or follow-up treatment to remove the vaginal mesh product, as well as to repair any damage to pelvic organs, tissues, and nerves incurred by the vaginal mesh complications.

Vaginal Mesh Litigation

The Vaginal Mesh MDL has 77,732 lawsuits consolidated in the West Virginia federal court, which make similar vaginal mesh injury allegations against various pelvic mesh manufacturers. Other pelvic mesh manufacturers facing litigation in this vaginal mesh MDL include AMS, Bard, and Boston Scientific.

If you or someone you love have suffered an injury from a vaginal mesh product, you may eligible to file a vaginal mesh lawsuit. These types of legal cases allow injured plaintiffs to seek compensation for their physical, mental, and emotional pain and suffering caused by their use of a company’s vaginal mesh product.