A product liability lawsuit has been filed against Ethicon and parent company Johnson & Johnson alleging that a man’s hernia repair using Ethicon Physiomesh led him to develop complications ultimately requiring hernia mesh revision surgery.
Plaintiff Larry S. filed his lawsuit in South Carolina federal court after his surgical mesh became infected. In his initial surgery, Larry had a Physiomesh patch that measured 15 cm x 20 cm surgically implanted to repair a hernia back in December 2013. Larry developed an infection after the surgery and underwent hernia mesh revision surgery in August 2016.
Larry alleges that the film which covers the Ethicon Physiomesh patch was responsible for triggering his infection that ultimately led to the hernia mesh revision surgery.
“When affixed to the body’s tissue, the impermeable multi-layer coating of the physical mesh prevents fluid escape, which leads to seroma formation, and which in turn can cause infection, abscess formation and other complications,” Larry’s lawsuit states. It goes on to say, “The multi-layer coating provides a breeding ground for bacteria in which the bacteria cannot be eliminated by the body’s immune response, which allows the infection to proliferate.”
Hernia mesh is essentially used as a patch to repair a hernia. A hernia occurs when there is a weakness in muscle or tissue that allows organs or feces to push through the opening. Hernias can occur in a number of locations, but the most common is in the abdomen. Umbilical hernias, hernias in the groin area, and hernias located in the upper thigh are also common.
A number of problems with hernia mesh have been reported including infections, pain, rashes, mesh shrinkage, bowel obstructions, seromas, fistulas and mesh failure leading to hernia recurrence, among other complications.
Shortly before Larry’s hernia mesh revision surgery, Ethicon actually issued a market withdrawal in 2016. The company issued the market withdrawal in response to reports that patients were requiring hernia mesh revision surgery shortly after implantation with the Physiomesh patch.
As part of the market withdrawal, the makers of the hernia mesh patch asked for hospitals to return any unused products back to the company. Ethicon has stated that the Physiomesh hernia repair product will not return to the market.
There have been so many Physiomesh lawsuits against Ethicon and Johnson & Johnson that allege similar complications that the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has decided to consolidate all of the lawsuits in order to streamline the pretrial proceedings and all of the related cases.
These Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits have been consolidated in the Northern District of Georgia federal court under U.S. District Judge Richard Story. The consolidation of these lawsuits will allow for the conservation of resources by aiming to reduce duplicate discovery and avoid any conflicting rulings that may have resulted from having the lawsuits tried at different locations.
Currently, there are 66 lawsuits in the MDL, known as In Re: Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2782. Thousands more hernia mesh lawsuits are expected to join the MDL from plaintiffs who were required to undergo hernia mesh revision surgery after experiencing problems from the Ethicon Physiomesh.
If you or a loved one suffered from hernia mesh complications leading to additional surgeries, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the experienced attorneys at McDonald Worley today for a FREE case evaluation by filling out the form on this page.