Some recipients of surgical mesh—especially surgical mesh that has been implanted through the vagina—have had the mesh shrink or wear through their vaginal mucosa, according to media reports. The bodies of other patients have simply rejected surgical mesh (sometimes called “bladder sling”) implants. As a result, many recipients of surgical mesh and bladder slings are experiencing harmful side effects.

If your doctor used surgical mesh, vaginal mesh, or a bladder sling to treat incontinence, Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP), or some other condition, and you believe it caused you to bleed, swell up, develop infections, experience pain, or suffer from some other negative side effect, you need a sympathetic advocate who will represent only your interests—and who will make the process of obtaining compensation for your injuries as painless as possible. The Rottenstein Law Group, a surgical mesh law firm, knows this, and we want you to believe it. We are now accepting surgical mesh lawsuit claims.

Surgical Mesh Is Produced by Various Manufacturers

Often used to create a hammock-like structure or sling to support or hold in a woman’s reproductive organs, surgical mesh has been produced by several different manufacturers, including CR Bard, which produces a mesh product that is sold under the brand name “Avaulta”; Davol; Boston Scientific; Island Biosurgical; Caldera Medical; Endo Pharmaceuticals; the Dublin-based Covidien; the American Medical Systems (AMS) unit of Endo Pharmaceuticals; the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon; and Mentor Corporation, a California-based company that was eventually acquired by Johnson & Johnson.

The surgical mesh products currently sold or once sold by these manufacturers bear many different names, including Bladder Neck Suspension Kit, SPARC Sling, MiniArc, Avaulta System, ProteGen Sling, ObTape, Desara Sling, IVS Tunneller I, Gynecare Prolift, TVT, Transvaginal Surgical mesh, Gynemesh, Polyform mesh, Apogee System, Perigee System, Pinnacle, and Advantage.

The FDA Has Issued Warnings

The FDA first released a public health notification cautioning doctors about the risks associated with surgical mesh in 2008. Issued in response to surgical mesh manufacturers’ receipt of “over 1,000” adverse-event reports associated with attempts to remedy POP and Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) by placing surgical mesh transvaginally (that is, through a woman’s vagina as opposed to through her abdomen), the notification stated that such complications were serious, but “rare.”

Between the 2008 release of that Health Safety Communication and 2010, serious complaints about complications related to the use of surgical mesh to treat POP increased five-fold, according to the FDA. Moreover, the agency’s systematic review of the relevant scientific literature published from 1996 to 2011 “showed that transvaginal POP repair with mesh does not improve symptomatic results or quality of life over traditional non-mesh repair.”

Accordingly, the FDA issued a safety communication on July 13, 2011, announcing that “serious complications associated with surgical mesh for transvaginal repair of POP are not rare.”

Transvaginal Placement of Surgical Mesh Victims Are Filing Lawsuits

At least one surgical mesh product, known as the ProteGen Sling, was voluntarily recalled in 1999 by its manufacturer, Boston Scientific, after that company received thousands of complaints. Another surgical mesh product, a vaginal sling known as ObTape, was discontinued in 2006 by its manufacturer, Mentor Corporation, which was eventually acquired by Johnson & Johnson.

There are still many vaginal mesh/surgical mesh products on the market, however. Doctors are still using the Avaulta System, for example, and the Johnson & Johnson surgical mesh product known as the Gynecare TVT is still being used, despite the fact that it was approved by the FDA based on its similarity to Boston Scientific’s ProteGen Sling, which has since been recalled.

Whether or not the products they were implanted with have been recalled, women suffering from surgical mesh/vaginal sling side effects are filing lawsuits against several mesh manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific.

As of February 2012, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has ordered all federal-level vaginal mesh lawsuits against four manufacturers consolidated into four multidistrict litigation (MDL) proceedings before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin is the presiding judge. The four companies involved are: C.R. Bard; American Medical Systems; Boston Scientific; and Ethicon. MDL allows parties whose cases share common opponents, facts, and legal issues to combine their cases for the pretrial phase only. Consolidation saves the parties’ and the judiciary’s time and resources while allowing plaintiffs the opportunity to recover an amount of compensation that corresponds to their injuries, unlike in a class action lawsuit, which provides a fixed award. At the end of the pretrial process, the parties select a handful of plaintiffs, whose cases are typical of all plaintiffs, to try their cases before juries in what are called “bellwether trials.” Bellwether trials allow the remaining plaintiffs and defendants to assess their cases and decide whether they should proceed to trial themselves or settle out of court. The first transvaginal mesh bellwether trial is scheduled to begin on February 15, 2013, against C.R. Bard.

If you have suffered negative side effects from a vaginal sling/surgical mesh implant, you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries whether or not the mesh product your doctor used is still on the market. To file a lawsuit for injuries you suffered as the result of a drug or medical device, that drug or medical device doesn’t have to have been recalled.

RLG Lawyers Will Make Things Easier

The transvaginal placement of surgical mesh lawyers at the Rottenstein Law Group believe that getting satisfaction shouldn’t be just more hardship. That’s why we do everything we can to streamline the process of helping you to obtain compensation.

We will file a transvaginal placement of surgical mesh lawsuit on your behalf if necessary. If you or someone you love has suffered from side effects related to the transvaginal placement of surgical mesh, submit this simple secure form for a free and confidential evaluation to learn more about your eligibility to file a transvaginal placement of surgical mesh lawsuit.

Legal action is the best way to recover the most compensation for your medical expenses, and your pain and suffering. Contact the Rottenstein Law Group today.