Couple Sues Ethicon Over Vaginal Mesh Complications

Tina Webb and her husband Luther Webb Jr. have filed a lawsuit against Ethicon Inc., a branch of Johnson & Johnson. Their lawsuit alleges that Ethicon’s vaginal mesh implant caused serious complications for Tina Webb, and that the manufacturers are legally culpable for that damage. Their vaginal mesh lawsuit joins existing multidistrict litigation (MDL) against mesh manufacturers.

According to her vaginal mesh lawsuit, Tina Web received a vaginal mesh implant in November 2010. Vaginal mesh, also called pelvic mesh, bladder slings and urogynecologic mesh, is a medical implant that is derived from surgical mesh.

Surgical mesh is a type of material used to support tissues and organs when their normal support musculature is weakened. General forms of surgical mesh have been used in the United States since the 1970s. For pelvic-specific surgeries, surgeons would cut general surgical mesh into custom shapes for pelvic surgeries. In the 1990s, various medical supply companies, seeing a new niche, began producing surgical mesh specifically designed for pelvic surgery. Since pelvic mesh was based on existing technology, manufacturers were able to skip many of the clinical tests normally required for a new medical technology.

Unfortunately, pelvic mesh has been linked to serious complications. Some have reported nerve damage from the anchor points of pelvic mesh, since pelvic mesh is designed to be held in place by anchoring it in the nerve-rich tissue of the lower spine. This type of vaginal mesh complication could cause numbness and paralysis.

Additionally, pelvic mesh has been linked to abnormal tissue growth and scarring, called “embedment” when the body’s tissue grows around the implant and “adhesion” when the body forms abnormal scar tissue that binds pelvic organs together, causing pain and impaired organ function. In some cases, it is alleged that the mesh caused erosion, a condition in which the mesh cuts is way through organs and tissue through friction. Transvaginal mesh has also been implicated in immune reactions, when the body attacks the materials in the mesh, causing pain and inflammation.

The issues with vaginal mesh have been reported even in implants made by different manufacturers, made from different materials, and different batches of mesh. As such, there have been multiple lawsuits against different manufacturers of vaginal mesh implants. Due to the large number of vaginal mesh lawsuits, these have taken the form of MDLs.

MDLs are a type of mass lawsuit that is similar to class action lawsuits. In both class actions lawsuits and MDLs, a group of allegedly-injured parties file suit against a single defendant. The main difference between MDLs and class action lawsuits is that in an MDL, the individual plaintiffs have their own legal representation, while in class action suits every plaintiff is represented by a single lawyer or — more commonly — by a team of lawyers.

This particular vaginal mesh lawsuit is a part of a larger MDL against Ethicon entitled In Re: Ethicon Incorporated, Pelvic Repair Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2327, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

If you had revision surgery to repair damage caused by vaginal mesh, or you have surgery scheduled, you may qualify for compensation. You can start to explore your options by visiting the Transvaginal Mesh, Vaginal Sling, Vaginal Mesh and Bladder Sling Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Here, you can enter information about your situation for a legal review by a trained expert with a background in this type of litigation. The initial consultation is completely free of charge, and from it, you can receive additional guidance on the best steps to take in your specific situation.