We have covered many vaginal mesh implant cases in previous posts. Although medical device manufacturer Johnson & Johnson agreed to stop selling these defective medical devices this summer, more evidence indicates that the company was aware that these products should have never been sold in the first place.

Vaginal mesh implants were a popular medical device used to treat a condition called vaginal prolapse, which occurs when a woman’s pelvic organs slip out of place due to weakened tissue. There is evidence that vaginal mesh implants were defectively designed and inadequately tested and have a tenancy to slip out of place or perforate organs. Defective vaginal mesh implants have caused many women to become incontinent and to suffer chronic pain, prolapse and other serious medical conditions.

New evidence has emerged indicating that Johnson & Johnson continued selling vaginal mesh implants almost a year after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told it to stop marketing the devices due to safety concerns.

“It’s egregious that J&J was selling the device without clearance,” one attorney told Bloomberg News.

“Companies know the FDA has little enforcement ability and scarce resources,” another attorney said. “Every woman in America who has been implanted with these devices absolutely should be outraged,” he said. “They should be mad at the company because the company knew they could get away with it.”

The company faces hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who have been injured by defective mesh implants. Product liability litigation has also been filed against other medical device companies such as C.R. Bard that sold similar mesh devices.

Source: Bloomberg News, “Johnson & Johnson kept selling vaginal mesh implants after warnings,” June 26, 2012