Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Filed Over Failed Ethicon Physiomesh And Covidien Symbotex

According to allegations raised in a product liability lawsuit fild against two of the major hernia mesh manufacturers in the United States, an Arkansas woman suffered painful complications following hernia repairs where an Ethicon Physiomesh patch and Covidien Symbotex patch failed.

In a complaint (PDF) filed last week in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Jo Ann Lax indicates that Johnson & Johnson, it’s Ethicon subsidiary, and Covidien LP sold unreasonably dangerous and defective hernia repair products, which caused her to suffer severe injuries and require multiple surgeries.

Lax first underwent a laparoscopic umbilical hernia repair in October 2014, at which time a 15cm by 15cm Physiomesh patch was implanted. However, in May 2015, she had to undergo additional surgery to have the patch removed, after it disconnected and tore, leaving pieces of hernia mesh in the surrounding tissue.

After the Ethicon Physiomesh was removed, Lax had a Covidien Symbotex hernia mesh implanted, which also resulted in complications. However, she indicates that it has not yet been removed.

“Plaintiff has experienced and (continues) to experience pain in lower part of her stomach, sores on her stomach, blisters, stinging sensation around the area of surgery, and removal of her naval,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff’s injuries were not present before the implantation of the mesh products.”

The case joins a growing number of hernia mesh lawsuits filed in recent months against various manufacturers, including Ethicon, Covidien, C.R. Bard and Atrium Medical. Each of the complaints raise similar allegations that products introduced in recent years were defectively designed, and not suitable for use during hernia repair.

Johnson & Johnson issued an Ethicon Physiomesh recall last year, after failing to identify a solution for the growing number of complications reported among individuals who received their product, which features a unique multi-layer design.

Given the similar questions of fact and law raised in different Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits filed throughout the federal court system, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) established coordinated pretrial proceedings earlier this year, centralizing the cases before U.S. District Judge Richard Story in the Northern District of Georgia to reduce duplicative discovery, avoid contradictory pretrial rulings and to serve the convenience of the parties, witnesses and the courts. However, the state court complaint filed by Lax will not be included in the MDL.