A Texas woman has added her Vaginal mesh lawsuit to the ongoing litigation against Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson, alleging that the medical device manufacturers fraudulently concealed the serious risks of their vaginal mesh devices.

According to the Vaginal Mesh MDL, Ethicon negligently manufactured and marketed defective and unreasonably dangerous devices, withholding information from consumers and the medical community about the risks of serious infection and injury of their transvaginal mesh products.

Plaintiff Hilda S. filed the vaginal mesh lawsuit in federal court, joining the pending vaginal mesh multidistrict litigation. Hilda claims that the Prosima transvaginal mesh device — which she had surgically implanted in June 2010 — was negligently designed, thereby causing serious side effects, such as mesh pain, mesh erosion, organ damage, and other vaginal mesh complications.

Vaginal Mesh Risks

Many thousands of female patients have undergone procedures involving the implantation of transvaginal mesh as a means to treat urinary incontinence or address pelvic organ prolapse (POP), conditions that often develop as a result of childbirth.

Transvaginal mesh surgery is supposed to strengthen the internal organs and prevent them from coming into contact with each other by implanting the mesh device.

Unfortunately, recent years have seen alarming reports of serious complications from such treatments, with health regulators warning that one in ten women will suffer pelvic mesh problems.

The volume of incidents became so substantial that the FDA issued a public safety notice in late 2008 about vaginal mesh devices; in 2011, the agency warned that complications from transvaginal mesh products are not rare, and that alternative treatments may be preferable.

Additionally, the FDA issued a requirement in 2012 mandating manufacturers of the products to conduct new clinical trials to assess the risk of serious complications.

The following are among the vaginal mesh complications reported by women who underwent pelvic organ prolapse repair surgery with a transvaginal mesh:

• Mesh erosion
• Infection
• Bleeding
• Pain during sex
• Urinary problems
• Discomfort
• Vaginal scarring
• Bowel, bladder and blood vessel perforation

Vaginal Mesh Litigation

Many women, like Hilda, who experienced vaginal mesh complications are forced to undergo multiple revision surgeries to attempt to manage symptoms. These same women have since filed vaginal mesh lawsuits against the device manufacturers.

These vaginal mesh manufacturers face tens of thousands of federal lawsuits consolidated in multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia under Chief Judge Joseph R. Goodwin. Additionally, thousands more are pending in state courts.

Currently, there are more than 60,000 federal vaginal mesh lawsuits against seven mesh manufacturers filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia under Chief Judge Joseph R. Goodwin.

The Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit is Case No. 2:15-cv-11392, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Charleston Division and the Ethicon Transvaginal Mesh 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.