Bellew v. Ethicon Federal Pelvic Mesh Trial Begins in Charleston, WV

Ben Anderson, Anderson Law

In Charleston, West Virginia, a bellwether trial began Monday March 2, in the ongoing federal pelvic mesh litigation being held in that courtroom. Judge Joseph Goodwin is presiding over Dianne M. Bellew v. Ethicon. Ms. Bellew is from Arizona and was implanted with an Ethicon Prolift in July 2009 in Northwest Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. There is no spouse named.

Mesh News Desk is not present for this federal trial as we have been for C. Lewis and J. Huskey, both Ethicon cases.

Her case was transferred into federal multidistrict litigation where there are currently 24,388 filed product litigation cases filed that name Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson and an allegedly defective pelvic mesh implant.

Dr./ Piet Hinoul, Ethicon, from Gross trial

The Prolift case of Joan Budke concluded in Camden Co. Missouri last month with an undisclosed settlement to the family of the late Ms. Budke. The implanting surgeon in the Bellew case is Carol Dehasse, MD.

Attorneys for Ms. Bellew are Ben Anderson, Anderson law, and Adam Slater of Mazie, Slater, Katz & Freeman.

Adam Slater, Mazie, Slater

Slater and Anderson were plaintiffs’ attorneys in the Budke case as well, however, this time Anderson is the lead attorney.

Ethicon is facing counts of Negligence, Manufacturing Defect, Failure to Warn, Defective Product, Common Law Fraud, Fraudulent Concealment, Negligent Misrepresentation, Constructive Fraud, Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress, Breach of Express Warranty, Breach of Implied Warranty, Violation of Consumer Protection Laws, Gross Negligence, Unjust Enrichment and Punitive Damages.

Her case was filed in the Charleston federal court July 13, 2013.

Prolift is no longer on the market. It was sold as an entire kit, complete with stainless steel trocars to implant the mesh in the pelvic floor to treat pelvic organ prolapse. It is one of the largest meshes ever made and has been called overengineered for its purpose. The mesh arms of a Prolift, used to secure it deep into tissue, are very difficult if not impossible to remove, according to mesh removal medical doctors. #