Johnson & Johnson is a name we often associate with baby shampoo and infant lotion. We tend to view J&J as a good old family company with family values and a person-first ethos. And, while perhaps it is true that J&J makes some good product, J&J also makes some deadly ones. J&J is no stranger to litigation, with suits all across the country for products like baby powder and transvaginal mesh. In fact, if consumers knew the truth about just how often J&J is sued for harming consumers, the name, “Johnson & Johnson” would no longer evoke images of smiling, laughing babies.
One of the more recent suits against J&J has to do with hernia mesh. Hernia surgeries are performed over 800,000 times a year in the United States, with most of those surgeries involving the implantation of hernia mesh. While using hernia mesh is considered the “gold standard” among physicians, this medical device is also known to have serious and dangerous risks. Some of these risks include perforated intestines/bowel, peritonitis, bowel obstruction, sepsis, or abscess. In these cases, the patient often requires revision surgery to correct the problems linked to the hernia mesh.
In May 2016, Ethicon-a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson-pulled its Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh from the market due to high revision rates and hernia recurrences after hernia repair surgeries.
The lawsuits against Ethicon allege include the following allegations:
· Failure to perform adequate research of the product
· Failure to warn about the complications linked to the product
· Providing misleading information about Physiomesh’s safety
· Defective instructions for surgeons
· Failing to make a safer mesh product.
This latest string of lawsuits is just another case of J&J putting the dollar sign and not the consumer first. How the consumer thinks of J&J is long overdue for a change, as J&J is clearly and truly a repeat offender. For more information Hernia Mesh, Click Here.
