Hernia Mesh Bowel Adhesions Result in Lawsuit Over Ethicon Physiomesh

Due to problems with the Ethicon Physiomesh used during ventral hernia repair, a Delaware man indicates that he suffered a number of small bowel adhesions, resulting in the need for the surgical mesh to be removed from his body. 

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Charles Racine on April 13, indicating that Johnson & Johnson and its Ethicon sold a hernia mesh product with numerous defects, which created a high risk of unreasonable and dangerous injuries, which may result in severe and permanent health consequences.

Racine had an Ethicon Physiomesh patch implanted in March 2014, during surgical repair of a ventral hernia. However, just a week later he returned to the hospital, suffering abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.

It was not until February 2016 that doctors were able to diagnose his health problems, finding that he suffered significant adhesions in his abdomen, with loops of small bowel attached to the mesh and adhesions in the upper and mid abdomen.

“Mr. Racine’s severe adverse reaction, and the necessity for further surgical removal of the Physiomesh, directly and proximately resulted from the defective and dangerous condition of the product and Defendants’ defective and inadequate warnings about the risks associated with the product, and the frequency, severity and duration of such risks,” the lawsuit states. “The Physiomesh implanted in Mr. Racine failed to reasonably perform as intended. The mesh caused serious injury and will require additional invasive surgery to properly fully remedy.”

Racine points to numerous design defects, indicating that the material used in Ethicon Physiomesh is not inert and therefore reacts to human tissue, and harbors infections. The hernia mesh components are also prone to migrate from the implant location, according to the lawsuit, which claims that the hernia mesh regularly fails and requires removal that causes damage to organs and tissue.

The case joins a growing number of Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits filed in recent months over hernia mesh bowel adhesions and other complications, each raising similar allegations that the manufacturer knew or should have known about the risk of problems. However, rather than promptly issuing a nationwide hernia mesh recall, the manufacturer opted to simply remove the product from shelves and cease further sales within the United States last year.

As hernia mesh lawyers continue to review and file a number of lawsuits for individuals nationwide who had Ethicon Physiomesh implanted, a motion was filed last month with U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), seeking to transfer all cases to the Middle District of Florida for coordinated discovery pretrial proceedings. The panel will consider oral arguments on the motion during an upcoming hearing session scheduled for May 25, in San Antonio, Texas.