Matthews & Associates and Freese & Goss will try the first SUI sling trial in the Federal multi district litigation court (MDL) in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of West Virginia, Jan. 14, 2014. Judge Goodwin will preside.

The plaintiff, now 59, charges Ethicon – a division of Johnson & Johnson – with failing to adequately warn her of the dangers of its Transvaginal Tape Obdurator (TVT-O), which doctors implanted in her in 2009 for Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI). After the normal surgical healing process, the woman began to experience pain and continued to have SUI problems, which she initially blamed on her age and other personal factors. Eventually, she came to realize that the problem was not with her, but with the transvaginal mesh which had been implanted.

The case was originally filed in Texas (the woman’s home) state court, where plaintiffs would have preferred to try it. Defendants, however, were able to have the case removed to the Federal MDL court. The case was selected by both plaintiffs, defendants and the judge to be the first of its kind to be tried in the Federal MDL, where several thousands of cases have now been filed.

The plaintiff is also scheduled to undergo revision surgery this summer to remove as much of the tape as possible.

Matthews & Associates Marla Briscoe reports that the West Virginia MDL web site seems particularly well organized for helping move the TVM litigation forward. You can visit the site at this link:

http://www.wvsd.uscourts.gov/

by Matthews & Associates