Couple forced to abandon fertility treatment sues surgical implant maker

A Lafourche Parish couple brought a lawsuit against a California-based medical manufacturer for alleged product liability in 2014.

Tawanna Mead and Jermaine Mead of Thibodaux filed a complaint against Allergan Inc. of Irvine, Calif., in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana on May 7, citing damages in a January 2014 incident and thereafter.

The suit alleges damages incurred in the Parish of Terrebonne as a consequence of Tawanna’s LAP-BAND surgery on June 25, 2010.

According to court documents, Tawanna began to experience weight gain and pain at the port site in or around January 2014. She underwent corrective surgery on or about May 9, 2014, wherein the device was removed and replaced.

The couple had been forced to cease fertility treatments due to her problems with the allegedly defective product, because the second surgery required X-rays. The Meads allege that due to the device’s failure, they have been unable to conceive a child because they spent all their money on the previous fertility regimens.

Claiming medical bills, lost wages, mental pain and anguish, weight gain and other LAP-BAND related issues; loss of consortium, and loss of funds, the couple cites the defendant with negligence; manufacturing defects; strict liability and breach of warranty.

The Meads seek damages, interest, attorney’s fees, expenses, and costs. They are represented by David J. Schexnaydre of Schexnaydre Law Firm in Mandeville.

U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana Case 2:15-cv-01519-ILRL-MBN.