Love
A Nevada woman has filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of a vaginal mesh medical device claiming the defective product required her to undergo three corrective surgeries.
Cathleen Ankenman filed suit against Johnson & Johnson Inc., Ethicon Inc. and American Medical Systems Inc. on March 1 in the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division. Her husband, John Ankenman, is also a plaintiff.
The products at issue are the Gynecare Prolift + M and the AMS Monarc, which are designed to treat pelvic organ prolapse. The product uses minimally invasive surgical techniques for the treatment of medical conditions like stress urinary incontinence.
Ankenman states she was implanted with one of the products in July 2009 at a medical center in Las Vegas.
According to the suit, these products have a high failure, injury and complication rate, fail to perform as intended and require frequent and often debilitating re-operations. The plaintiff claims that the medical device has resulted in mental and physical pain and suffering and permanent injury and required her to endure three corrective surgeries.
The defendants are accused of fraudulent concealment, negligence, strict liability, breach of implied and express warranties, and fraudulent misrepresentation.
Ankenman is asking the court for an award of damages, lost wages, punitive damages, attorney's fees, interest, and court costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Scott A. Love and William M. Moreland of Clark, Burnett, and Love & Lee in Houston.
U.S. District Judge Ron Clark is assigned to the case.
The case is filed as a potential tag-along case to the multidistrict litigation proceedings currently pending before the federal court in West Virginia (MDL 2327).
Case No. 1:12-cv-00101