According to Reuters, a federal judge has consolidated 26 transvaginal mesh lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon unit in a single trial scheduled for November 2 of this year. The lawsuits will join over 26,000 other Ethicon transvaginal mesh lawsuits that have been consolidated in a multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Transvaginal mesh implants are intended to prevent urinary incontinence and organ prolapse in women. Unfortunately, several of the devices, such as those made by Ethicon, are allegedly defective and dangerous to the women in whom they are implanted. Plaintiffs in transvaginal mesh lawsuits claim that these defectively designed implants can lead to serious and sometimes irreversible side effects, including severe pain, organ erosion, bleeding, infection, nerve damage, and sexual dysfunction.
While the vast majority of Ethicon transvaginal mesh lawsuits have yet to go to trial, Johnson & Johnson has nevertheless been busy settling cases. In March of this year, the company was ordered to pay $5.7 million in damages to a California woman who claimed she suffered after a defective transvaginal mesh implant eroded inside her. Just one month before this result, Johnson & Johnson settled at least 115 transvaginal mesh lawsuits and expressed its willingness to settle more on a case-by-case basis.
There are currently around 70,000 transvaginal mesh lawsuits pending in the United States. Another transvaginal mesh manufacturer targeted in these lawsuits is Boston Scientific Corp., whose Pinnacle and Advantage Fit implants are allegedly prone to failure. Earlier this month, Boston Scientific was ordered to pay $100 million in a transvaginal mesh lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed the company’s products left her in chronic pain and unable to have sex.
Consult your doctor about any medical concerns you may have, and be sure to ask about any side effects a medical device may pose. If you or someone you know was injured by a defective transvaginal mesh implant, contact Lopez McHugh’s team of transvaginal mesh attorneys for a free and discrete legal consultation. You may be able to secure damages through your own transvaginal mesh lawsuit.
