Johnson & Johnson has withdrawn from the market controversial devices at the centre of a class action against the pharmaceutical giant.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) requested last year that all manufacturers of transvaginal sling and mesh update product information on the devices by January 17 to include warnings about potential adverse side effects.

A spokesperson for the authority today confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Johnson & Johnson missed this deadline and had withdrawn the supply of its mid-urethral sling devices “to consider their options in response to TGA’s request to update the Instructions for Use of their products”.

The devices will no longer be imported while the company weights up its options.

Urogynaecological meshes, sometimes known as transvaginal meshes, are inserted into women as a treatment option for pelvic organ prolapse (when the connective tissue securing the vagina and uterus to the pelvis gives way after childbirth), or urinary incontinence.

The products, known as Gynecare TVT, are the subject of a class action involving 700 Australian women.

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