Ethicon Awarded Summary Judgment in La. Federal Hernia Patch Case

SHREVEPORT, La. — A Louisiana federal judge has awarded Ethicon Inc. summary judgment in a case involving its Proceed Ventral hernia repair patch, ruling that the plaintiff failed to present evidence of a feasible alternative design or that the patch’s construction deviated from design specifications.

In an Oct. 29 order, Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana further ruled that the state’s learned intermediary doctrine defeats the plaintiff’s failure-to-warn claim.

Shawanna Shepard underwent surgery to repair an umbilical hernia in December 2015, during which Ethicon’s Proceed Ventral Patch (PVP) was implanted. After experiencing …