A Wisconsin resident has filed a vaginal mesh lawsuit, joining the large-scale multidistrict litigation over pelvic mesh complications.

Plaintiff Lois L. is suing pelvic mesh manufacturer Ethicon (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson), claiming she suffered complications from pelvic mesh surgery in October 2011. Lois alleges she experienced painful and serious complications, including vaginal mesh erosion. Her surgical mesh lawsuit alleges that Ethicon knew—or reasonably should have known—about the potential risk of mesh erosion and other pelvic mesh complications before she ever had the implant.

To support these allegations, Lois cites the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was already making concerned statements to the public as early as 2008. That year, the FDA published a Public Health Notice, advising that evidence was mounting that pelvic mesh may not be entirely safe. In fact, by that point, the FDA had received more than a thousand complaints about complications from pelvic mesh.

A 2011 follow-up announcement stated that the FDA received over 2,800 complications between 2008 and 2010. Additionally, the FDA stated that their evidence indicated that pelvic mesh was no more effective than the older treatments for the same condition.

What Is Pelvic Mesh?

Pelvic mesh, also known as vaginal mesh, is a type of surgical material used to support organs and tissues when their normal support structures are weakened or damaged by disease, illness, or injury. Surgical mesh has been widely used since the 1970s. Until the 1990s, surgeons sporadically cut surgical mesh into specific shapes of surgery on pelvic organs. Sensing an opportunity, surgical supply companies developed and premiered pelvic mesh, pre-cut specifically for the pelvic area. However, in the 2000s, serious problems with surgical mesh began to surface, leading to product recalls and surgical mesh lawsuits against the manufacturers.

Vaginal Mesh Complications

There are a number of risks associated with pelvic mesh. Among the reported side effects are issues with the anchor points for pelvic mesh. Pelvic mesh lawsuits have alleged that there is no safe place to anchor pelvic mesh without causing nerve and muscle damage to the lower spine. Additionally, it has been alleged that pelvic mesh can cause pelvic mesh embedment, a process wherein tissue grows around the mesh, causing severe mesh pain, and complicating removal. Additional pelvic mesh complications include mesh erosion where mechanical friction causes the mesh to work its way through the very tissue the surgical implant is designed to protect.

Surgical Mesh Lawsuits

So many pelvic mesh lawsuits have been filed that the legal system has resorted to a process called multidistrict litigation (MDL) to resolve them. MDLs are a process for consolidating similar lawsuits through coordinated hearings and testimony in order to help move tens, hundreds, or in the case of pelvic mesh lawsuits, thousands of cases along.

Since pelvic mesh lawsuits typically make similar allegations and hinge on similar evidence, they are well suited to MDLs. However, several different companies made pelvic mesh, and as such, there are several different MDLs based on the company that made the mesh. In the case of Lois, her pelvic mesh lawsuit is a part of the MDL against Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson.

The Pelvic Mesh Lawsuit is Case No. 4433, filed within the larger Ethicon Pelvic Mesh MDL 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.