NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ethicon, Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson (NASDAQ: JNJ) and the manufacturer of several widely-used transvaginal mesh products, including the Gynecare TVT Secur System and Gynecare Prolift Pelvic Floor Repair System, announced today that it is taking these products off the market. Ethicon will be notifying hospitals and physicians to select alternative treatment options for their patients.
"The removal from the market of certain Gynecare mesh products comes after thousands of women have filed claims over the serious, often life-altering injuries they suffered due to these products," stated Lexi J. Hazam, an injury attorney at the national law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. "It is heartening that these unsafe products will no longer be sold, but those women who have been harmed by them should be fairly compensated by Ethicon and J&J, who promoted the allegedly defectively-designed mesh to women and their doctors without adequate warnings and instructions."
Millions of women have been implanted with transvaginal surgical mesh implants -– also called vaginal mesh or vaginal tape — to repair pelvic organ prolapse (POP), an often painful condition that affects thousands of women annually, as well as bladder slings used to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Often, the mesh is made of polypropylene, a form of plastic.
Plastic mesh inserted vaginally has been linked to a high rate of serious complications. In the past three years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received over 1,500 reports of complications with surgical mesh devices used to repair POP. However, it is often not necessary to treat POP or SUI with plastic mesh. Traditionally, exercise or simpler surgical procedures have been used to treat these conditions.
"This is a serious women's health issue," added Hazam. "Women throughout the country have suffered a wide range of mesh complications, as well as ongoing pain and emotional distress. In some cases, the complications led to severe pelvic discomfort and pain, additional 'revision' surgeries to try to remove the mesh, and permanent, life-changing injuries."
Vaginal Mesh Complications
The most common complications for plastic mesh devices used to repair POP include:
- vaginal mesh erosion -– tissue between the mesh and the lining of the vagina breaks down and the mesh becomes exposed on the surface of the vagina;
- vaginal scarring;
- perforation of organs;
- vaginal bleeding;
- chronic infection;
- contraction or shrinking of the mesh;
- neuro-muscular problems; and
- onset or resurgence of urinary problems such as incontinence.
Legal Resources for Injured Women Nationwide
If you or a family member have suffered serious complications from plastic vaginal mesh, vaginal tape, or a bladder sling, Lieff Cabraser can assist you in evaluating your legal options. Our female attorneys from our San Francisco, New York, and Nashville offices are representing injured women across America injured by transvaginal mesh. We also have several nurses assigned to assist our clients.
Learn more by visiting our vaginal mesh lawsuits page. Or call us toll-free in our San Francisco office at 1-800-541-7358 and ask to speak to attorney Lexi Hazam.
All information will be held strictly confidential. We will review your case promptly and for free, and without any obligation on your part.
About Lieff Cabraser
Recognized as "one of the nation's premier plaintiffs' firms" by The American Lawyer magazine, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a sixty-plus attorney law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. For the last eight consecutive years, the National Law Journal has selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in America. Learn more about us at www.lieffcabraser.com.