A plaintiff and resident of Texas has filed a hernia mesh lawsuit in Texas federal court against Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon, Inc.

Plaintiff Lydia E. files the alleged lawsuit for purportedly being implanted with a defective mesh product.

According to the Ethicon Physiomesh problems lawsuit, plaintiff Lydia E., was implanted with two physiomesh devices at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas.

The Ethicon Physiomesh problems lawsuit says she had been implanted with the physiomesh to “attempt a laparoscopic repair of a Complex Ventral Incisional hernia” in January 2013.

In February 2014, she later had to undergo a repair and removal of the previously inserted Physiomesh.

According to the Ethicon Physiomesh problems lawsuit, “the surgery revealed failure of her previously placed Physiomesh.” And, “lysis of adhesions was done and the old Physiomesh was explanted.”

In July 2015, Lydia had then undergone another surgery to repair a recurrent incarcerated incisional hernia. According to the Ethicon lawsuit, the surgery repair revealed “multiple loops of small intestine and colon” wrapped up within the incisional ventral hernia.

Moreover, since the repair surgery, the plaintiff contends that she “has suffered severe abdominal pain limiting her ability to work and perform daily activities.”

She also contends that she regularly has follow-up treatments for the adverse health effects and complications due to the insertion of the physiomesh. She may also be subject to additional future surgeries.

According to the Ethicon Physiomesh problems lawsuit, a Physiomesh is a medical device that becomes implanted in the body to reduce the occurrence of abdominal hernias. A hernia occurs when a section of the intestine protrudes through a weakened area of the abdominal wall.

Additionally, the Ethicon Physiomesh contains a material known as polypropylene. According to Lydia’s hernia mesh lawsuit, this material is abnormally incompatible with human tissue. The material can cause an immune response due to the biological incompatibility. The Ethicon Physiomesh problems lawsuit maintains that the immune response occurs as the body starts to break down the mesh.

The Ethicon Physiomesh problems lawsuit iterates that the polypropylene multi-layer coating is also a “breeding ground for bacteria.” This bacteria, according to the lawsuit, cannot be removed by the body’s immune response, and as such the bacterial infection will continue to grow.

According to the Ethicon Physiomesh problems lawsuit, severe adverse health effects and reactions that occur include chronic pain, recurrence of hernia, foreign body response, rejection, infection, scarification, deformation of mesh, improper wound healing, adhesions to internal organs, nerve damage, and tissue damage.

The Ethicon Physiomesh problems lawsuit contends that the defendants knew or should have known of the adverse health effects and reactions that occur because of the Physiomesh. The defendants allegedly failed to provide adequate testing to confirm that the Physiomesh is indeed safe to become implanted in the body.

The Ethicon Physiomesh Problems Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-md-02782, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Lubbock Division.