6th Circ. Affirms Summary Judgment To J&J In Mesh Lawsuit

6th Circ. Affirms Summary Judgment To J&J In Mesh Lawsuit

Introduction

On Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a Tennessee federal court's decision to dismiss a woman's product liability claim against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Healthcare Systems Inc. and its subsidiary Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc. over its pelvic mesh implant, ruling that the lawsuit was time-barred under the state's law.

According to the lawsuit filed in 2013, the Tennessee woman had the mesh device implanted in 2003 to help her alleviate the effects of several medical procedures. In 2006, she started experiencing discomfort, and over time she was forced to repair and replace the mesh product because it eroded through the vaginal canal.

The woman claimed that it was not until July 2012 when she learned about the reason behind her sufferings, following which she filed a lawsuit the next year in May seeking compensation for her ongoing pain and problems allegedly caused by the mesh device.

In response to the lawsuit filed, the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that the claim was time-barred per Tennessee’s statute of repose, which prohibits product liability claims brought more than six years after the date of the injury.

The state's federal court dismissed the lawsuit in January, agreeing to the defendants' assertion stating that the woman started having trouble with the implant in 2006.

The woman appealed, contending that her earliest injury was in 2011 and claiming that she wasn't aware that the device was the reason behind her medical problems until a doctor told her in 2012.

A three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit refused to revive the case, ruling that the case was filed too late as the woman had mentioned in her testimony that the mesh had begun to cause her problems in 2006 and she had not demonstrated that she was first injured in 2011 or 2012.

Around four million women have vaginal mesh implants, and more than 150,000 have alleged complications associated with it. There are in all 7 MDLs to handle Transvaginal Mesh Litigation, overseen by U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia for coordinated discovery and early bellwether trials.