Lawsuit Alleges Ethicon Vaginal Mesh Caused Serious Complications

Plaintiff Christine Lindsay has filed a lawsuit against Ethicon Inc., a unit of medical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, alleging that vaginal mesh manufactured by their company led her to experience serious, life-threatening complications. Her case joins similar vaginal mesh lawsuits in existing multidistrict litigation (MDL).

Vaginal mesh, sometimes called transvaginal mesh or pelvic mesh, is a form of surgical mesh first developed in the 1970s to provide support for organs and tissues when their normal support musculature weakened. Initially, surgeons would cut regular surgical mesh to specific shapes for pelvic-specific surgeries. Seeing a need, medical companies like Ethicon began to produce transvaginal mesh pre-cut into shapes specific to pelvic surgery in the 1990s. Since pelvic mesh was based on existing surgical technology, pelvic mesh was able to skip several steps of testing.

However, vaginal mesh has been the subject of recalls and lawsuits due to alleged complications stemming from several different serious problems. Some patients have reported adhesion, a process wherein surgical mesh causes scar tissue to build up, effectively bonding various pelvic organs together with scar tissue. Eventually, this painful process can completely shut down the various organs of the pelvis, including the uterus and bowel.

Additionally, sometimes the patient’s body produces an inflammation response to the mesh, causing painful swelling of the pelvic tissues. Other complications include vaginal mesh erosion—wherein the mesh wears through tissue through mechanical friction. Still other patients have reported injuries related to the mesh’s anchor points. Many types of vaginal mesh were designed to be anchored in the nerve-rich tissue at the base of the spine. This tissue includes many important nerves that control and sense the lower body. Damaging these nerves can cause numbness in the lower extremities, paralysis, and spasms.

The alleged vaginal mesh complications have been associated with a wide variety of mesh brands and manufacturers. Legal actions against mesh manufacturers have taken the form of multidistrict litigation or MDL.

MDL is a form of group lawsuit, similar to more familiar class action lawsuits. In both types of litigation, a group of allegedly-wronged parties file suit against the same defendant, alleging similar harm through similar actions. The main difference between MDLs and class action lawsuits is that in class action lawsuit, all of the injured parties are represented by a single lawyer, or more often a team of lawyers, while in an MDL, every individual plaintiff retains their own legal council. Several MDLs have been created to consolidate thousands of vaginal mesh lawsuits filed against various mesh manufacturers, including Ethicon.

This vaginal mesh MDL that plaintiff Lindsay filed her lawsuit into is formally titled In Re: Ethicon Incorporated, Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2327, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Free Help for Women Who Had Vaginal Mesh Revision Surgery

If you had revision surgery to repair damage caused by vaginal mesh, or you have surgery scheduled, you may be able to take legal action against the device manufacturer. These companies have already paid out millions of dollars in vaginal mesh lawsuit settlements and are continuing to settle cases. Don’t delay – see if you qualify to pursue compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages by filling out the short form at the Transvaginal Mesh, Bladder Sling Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.