Coloplast sued in St. Clair County over mesh product

A woman has filed suit against the manufacturer of a mesh product that she claims eroded her vaginal lining, causing her to endure multiple surgeries.

Carol Miller-Willis claims doctors inserted a Coloplast aris-transobturator sling system into her during a surgical procedure on June 28, 2005. The mesh was manufactured by defendant Coloplast, according to the complaint filed Aug. 9 in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

The mesh, however, failed to function as it should have and eroded Miller-Willis’s vaginal lining, the suit states.

It was not until later, however, that Miller-Willis discovered her injuries were a result of the mesh, according to the complaint.

Because of the mesh, Miller-Willis suffered severe and permanent injuries, the suit states.

She blames Coloplast for causing her injuries, saying its product was defective in that it causes an immune reaction, causes adverse reactions because it is inserted into a portion of the body with high amounts of yeast and bacteria and requires a physician to insert the device blindly.

In her complaint, Miller-Willis alleges strict products liability – design defect, negligence, failure to warn, breach of implied warranty, breach of express warranty, misrepresentation by omission and fraudulent misrepresentation against the defendant.

John J. Driscoll of The Driscoll Law Firm in St. Louis will be representing her.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 13-L-418.