A new transvaginal mesh lawsuit has joined the massive litigation against Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon unit, which made the allegedly-dangerous surgical implant. This transvaginal mesh lawsuit was filed by a husband and wife team from Texas.

In this particular transvaginal mesh lawsuit, plaintiff Jennifer M. and her husband David M. allege that Jennifer has suffered from serious transvaginal mesh complications.

Transvaginal mesh is a type of surgical mesh pre-cut for pelvic surgery. Surgical mesh has been used since the 1970s. For certain pelvic surgeries, surgeons would cut surgical mesh into the needed shape.

Several medical implant companies released transvaginal mesh in the early 2000s. Since transvaginal mesh was based on existing surgical mesh technology, it was able to skip several steps of FDA-mandated testing under the controversial 501(k) program, which allows a fast-track for products similar to others that have already been approved.

However, alleged transvaginal mesh complications surfaced once transvaginal mesh hit the market. It has been alleged that transvaginal mesh complications include mesh erosion, where the transvaginal mesh cuts its way through the very tissues it’s supposed to be protecting and support through mechanical friction.

Additionally, it has been alleged in vaginal mesh lawsuits that transvaginal mesh can cause tissue to grow around it, embedding the mesh in tissue, causing pain and making it hard to surgically remove the vaginal mesh.

Over the course of several months, the makers of all brands of transvaginal mesh, including Ethicon, recalled their respective transvaginal mesh. But transvaginal mesh lawsuits have been filed, alleging that the manufacturers of transvaginal mesh were aware — or reasonably should have been aware — of the potential transvaginal mesh complications like embedment or mesh erosion. These transvaginal mesh lawsuits seek to recoup the costs of medical care related to alleged transvaginal mesh complications.

So many transvaginal mesh lawsuit have been filed against companies like Ethicon that the legal system has consolidated them into a multi district litigation, or MDL. MDLs are a process used to coordinate tens, hundreds, or even thousands of similar cases together to help streamline the legal process, using earlier individual transvaginal mesh lawsuits to inform the outcomes of later vaginal mesh lawsuits in the MDL, possibly leading to mass settlements. Transvaginal mesh lawsuits have been grouped into MDLs against every major manufacturer of transvaginal mesh, including Ethicon.

The Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuit is Case No. 2:15-cv-02856, within the larger Transvaginal 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.