AGs State Pelvic Mesh Implants Caused Dire Complications

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state and California have sued Johnson & Johnson, saying that for years the company misrepresented the risks of vaginal mesh implants it sold to repair pelvic collapse.

In the latest legal actions over the problem-prone devices, Attorneys General Bob Ferguson of Washington and Kamala Harris of California on Tuesday accused the New Jersey-based health care giant of neglecting to tell patients and doctors about the risks and occurrences of dire, sometimes irreversible complications. Those include urinary dysfunction, loss of sexual function, constipation and severe pain.

Patients have already filed tens of thousands of lawsuits against mesh manufacturers, including New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson, Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific and Ireland-based Endo International. In 2014, Endo said it would pay $830 million to settle more than 20,000 personal injury lawsuits.