A patient is suing the manufacturers of a mesh intended for hernia repair after it allegedly caused damages and must be removed.
Gary Goodson filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on May 22 against Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon Inc.
In his complaint, Goodson claims he was implanted with a Physiomesh device at Anderson Hospital in Maryville in an attempt to repair a recurrent ventral incisional hernia.
Goodson alleges that due to continuous complications with the implanted device, he requires revision surgery to correct the “dangerous and defective” Physiomesh.
The suit states that the Physiomesh incorporates give distinct layers, which is not used in any other hernia repair product sold in the U.S.
“The multi-layer coating was represented and promoted by the Defendants to prevent or minimize adhesion and inflammation and to facilitate incorporation of the mesh into the body, but it did not.
“Instead the multi-layer coating prevented adequate incorporation of the mesh into the body and caused or contributed to an intense inflammatory and chronic foreign body response resulting in an adverse tissue reaction including migration and damage to surrounding tissue in the form of sclerotic, granulomatous and/or fibrotic tissue and improper healing,” the suit states.
The plaintiff alleges the impermeable multi-layer coating prevents fluid escape and provides a “breeding ground for bacteria” which cannot be eliminated by the body’s immune response.
He also alleges the mesh cannot withstand normal abdominal forces and layers can become adhered to organs, causing damage.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants were responsible for the research, design, development, testing manufacture, production, marketing, promotion, distribution and sale of the device.
He also alleges the device was defectively designed, was not reasonably safe for its intended use in hernia repair, and the risks of the design outweighed any potential benefits associated with the design.
“Neither Plaintiff Gary Goodson nor his implanting physician were adequately warned or informed by Defendants of the defective and dangerous nature of Physiomesh,” the suit states.
Goodson seeks more than $75,000 in compensatory damages, plus court costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, punitive damages and any other relief the court deems just.
He is represented by John Carey, Jeffrey Lowe, Andrew Cross, Sarah Shoemake Doles and Alyson Petrick of Carey Danis & Lowe in Clayton, Mo.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:17-cv-540