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Washington state and California sued Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday, saying that for years the company misrepresented the risks of vaginal mesh implants it sold to repair pelvic collapse. In the latest legal actions over the problem-prone devices, Attorneys General Bob Ferguson of Washington and Kamala Harris of California accused the New Jersey-based health care giant of neglecting to tell patients and doctors about the risks and occurrences of dire, sometimes irreversible complications. Those include urinary dysfunction, loss of sexual function, constipation and severe pain. (5/24)

California has accused Johnson & Johnson of failing to warn doctors and patients about the severity and frequency of complications associated with its pelvic mesh devices. According to the lawsuit filed by the state's attorney general on Tuesday, J&J and its Ethicon unit falsely marketed the devices as a safe and superior option to non-mesh treatments for pelvic floor disorders, when it was aware that they could cause pain, bleeding, loss of sexual function and other side effects. (Dye, 5/24)