Transvaginal Mesh Injury Lawsuits

Transvaginal mesh is a medical device that is used to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in women.

Thousands of women have been seriously injured when their mesh implant eroded into their vagina, perforated internal organs, caused chronic pelvic pain or required extensive revision surgery.

Mesh implant manufacturers are now exposed to over 75,000 transvaginal mesh lawsuits nationwide from women who allege that they were never warned about the serious and devastating side effects of these plastic devices.

Injured by Transvaginal Mesh? Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm can Help

The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm is currently accepting transvaginal mesh induced injury cases in all 50 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas.

If you or somebody you know has been injured by transvaginal mesh, you should contact our Trans Vaginal Team immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form to contact our team or call toll free 24 hours a day at 214-390-3189 ext 2 or 214-390-3189.

What is Transvaginal Vaginal Mesh?

Vaginal mesh is a surgical procedure to treat Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Stress Urinary Incontinence. In 1996, the FDA cleared the first surgical mesh product for SUI procedures, and in 2002, it cleared the first for POP procedures.

When used in transvaginal POP repair, mesh is inserted through small incisions made in the vaginal wall to reinforce the weakened vaginal wall and support bulging organs. For SUI repair, the mesh is used as a sling to support the urethra.

In 2010, the FDA reports approximately 300,000 women underwent surgical procedures in the United States to repair POP — 260,000 underwent SUI repair procedures. One out three POP surgeries used mesh, and 75% of the mesh POP procedures were done transvaginally. For SUI surgeries, 80% were done with transvaginal mesh.

What are the Problems With Transvaginal Mesh?

The FDA has warned repeatedly of the possible injury side effects of surgically implanted transvaginal mesh. To date, the FDA has received over 3,874 reports of injury, death and malfunction occurring after transvaginal mesh procedures.

The most common complications included erosion of mesh through the vagina, pain, dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse), infection, urinary incontinence, bleeding, and organ perforation. In many cases extensive revision surgery is required to remove the defective vaginal mesh or sling.

Major Transvaginal Mesh Side Effects

Vaginal Erosion or Perforation
Organ perforation (bowel, bladder and blood vessel)
Need for revision surgery
Infection
Bleeding
Severe pelvic pain
Painful sexual intercourse (dyspareunia)
Inability to engage in sexual intercourse
Recurring prolapse or incontinence
Vaginal scarring
Mesh contraction

What is Transvaginal Mesh?

Most meshes used in transvaginal surgeries are composed of non-absorbable synthetic polypropylene.

What is Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP)?

Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when the tissue surrounding pelvic organs becomes weakened or stretched, often from childbirth. POP causes internal organs (including the bladder, uterus, bowel and rectum) to bulge into the vagina.

What is Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)?

Stress urinary incontinence is associated with urine leakage during coughing, sneezing, laughing or exercise. When treated transvaginally, a synthetic sling is placed under the urethra to prevent urinary loss during physical activity.

Injured by Transvaginal Mesh?

The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm is currently accepting transvaginal mesh induced injury cases in all 50 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas.

Dallas Jury Slams Boston Scientific in Mesh Trial

In a Dallas Texas state court trial, Boston Scientific Corp. was ordered to pay $73 million to a woman who said a defectively designed vaginal-mesh implant left her in constant pain. This was the first award against the device maker over its incontinence slings.

Earlier in September 2014 , the Dallas jury found Boston Scientific liable for Martha Salazar’s personal injuries, in a defective product liability lawsuit over company’s Obtryx sling. The Texas jury awarded her about $23 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages in a two week trial.

Boston Scientific Exposed to Over 12,000 Lawsuits

Boston Scientific had won the first two cases to reach trial over the Obtryx sling in a Massachusetts state court, where the company is based. The mesh and sling manufacturer is exposed to more than 12,000 lawsuits with similar allegations that its vaginal mesh implants and slings, erode within the body. These devices are commonly used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence in women. It is estimated that approximately a million women yearly undergo these types of operation.

According to Salazar’s attorney, David Mathews, “this woman was seeking help with minor urine leakage and wound up with a catastrophic, life-altering injury that required four major surgeries. “It’s a tragedy that these slings are still on the market.”

Vaginal Mesh and Bladder Sling MDL Update

U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin is overseeing coordinated discovery and a series of bellwether trials involving seven different manufacturers, which have all be centralized in the Southern District of West Virginia as part of multidistrict litigation.

According to the latest case list released on July 15, 2015 by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), there are at least 11,623 Bard Avaulta mesh, 17,248 Boston Scientific mesh, 26,955 Ethicon mesh, 19,790 American Medical Systems (AMS) mesh, 2,157 Coloplast mesh, 362 Cook Medical mesh and 118 Neomedic mesh lawsuits.

As part of the coordinated management of the litigation, there are early trial dates set, known as “bellwether” case. The outcome of these trials are only binding on the claims that go before a jury, and they may facilitate vaginal mesh settlement negotiations with the manufacturers.

FDA Warning and Investigation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration demanded that Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson and other vaginal-implant makers in 2012 to study rates of organ damage and complications linked to the products.

Global Settlement in the Works

Boston Scientific and other makers of vaginal inserts are considering settling the lawsuits over the devices. Endo International Plc agreed in April to pay $830 million to resolve about 20,000 lawsuits alleging its vaginal-mesh inserts eroded in some women and left them incontinent and in pain.

Gross Negligence

Juries in New Jersey and West Virginia over the past year have ruled that J&J and Bard implants caused women’s injuries and ordered the companies to pay a total of more than $13 million in damages.

In Salazar’s case, the Dallas jury found that Boston Scientific’s sling suffered from a faulty design. The panel also found company officials failed to properly warn patients and doctor’s about the insert’s health risks.

Jurors said Boston Scientific’s handling of the slings amounted to gross negligence, which Mathews said allowed the jury to award punitive-damages.

As part of the evidence in the case, Matthews presented an August 2000 e-mail from Alex Robbins, a Boston Scientific executive, in which he tells salespeople to ignore a company-funded study raising questions about the sling’s safety.

“I certainly wouldn’t hand this out to any physicians,” Robbins said in the e-mail.

The case is Salazar v. Lopez, No. DC-1214349, District Court for Dallas County, 95th Judicial District of Texas (Dallas).

Contact Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm

If you or a loved one had aTransvaginal Mesh Implant and have suffered injuries with the device, contact the attorneys at Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm to learn more about your legal rights. You can speak with one of our representatives by calling toll-free at 214-390-3189 ext. 2, or by filling out the case evaluation form on the right of this page.

Our law firm’s principal office is in Dallas and we have offices in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm represents clients in dangerous drug and dangerous medical device lawsuits nationwide.