Breast Implants Caused Form of Lymphoma in Ohio Woman, First-Of-Its-Kind Lawsuit Alleges

PHILADELPHIA, May 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Popular breast implants manufactured by a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary caused an Ohio woman to develop a form of cancer, according to a lawsuit filed in New Jersey.

The product liability lawsuit filed by Ross Feller Casey, LLP and McEldrew Young is believed to be the first in the nation against J&J and its subsidiaries alleging breast implants caused anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

According to the lawsuit, Renee Cashen, 45, of Ashville, Ohio, had breast implant surgery in February 2008. About eight years later, she noticed a lump under her right armpit and a biopsy determined she had anaplastic large cell lymphoma. She had surgery to remove the MemoryGel® SILTEX® implants, made by Mentor Worldwide, as well as six infected lymph nodes. She later underwent debilitating chemotherapy for a condition that has become known as Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, or BIA-ALCL.

The FDA recently announced that it had more than 410 reports related to BIA-ALCL, including 9 deaths. The FDA noted that both textured and smooth implants could lead to BIA-ALCL, but textured implants appeared to do so more often.

Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that Mentor recklessly failed to warn consumers of the health hazards of the implants and did not comply with FDA mandated product-safety studies.

“We expect the number of victims of BIA-ALCL to continue to rise. None of the victims was ever warned of the risks of cancer. To state the obvious, when a woman seeks to have breast implants, she would never expect the implants to cause something as devastating and life altering as cancer,” said Robert Ross of Ross Feller Casey, LLP of Philadelphia.

“We intend to show that J&J and Mentor failed in their duty to monitor the safety of the implants as required by the FDA. J&J and Mentor will be held accountable for the suffering their implants have caused to the countless number of women and their families,” said Daniel Purtell of McEldrew Young, of Philadelphia.

Ross Feller Casey and McEldrew Young represent Cashen and her husband in the lawsuit, and will be working together to represent women from across the country.

Over the past 20 years, more than five million women have used Mentor breast implants. J&J purchased Mentor in 2009 for more than $1.1 billion.

The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Middlesex County, on April 27. It names J&J, Mentor Worldwide and Ethicon Inc. as defendants.

ABOUT ROSS FELLER CASEY

Ross Feller Casey, among the nation’s preeminent personal injury law firms, is actively investigating other lawsuits on behalf of individuals nationwide who have developed ALCL after undergoing breast augmentation surgery, regardless of whether it was reconstructive or cosmetic.