With numerous manufacturers of transvaginal mesh devices being sued over complications liked to them, one of the most common complaints is the debilitating pain that the devices’ erosion causes. Thousands of women have had the various devices implanted as part of a treatment for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence. Both of the conditions are caused by childbirth and menopause.
All of the devices have come under fire once it was discovered that thousands of women were reporting that their devices were eroding. The erosion caused women to suffer from severe pain, infections, vaginal scarring and painful intercourse. Since those complaints started coming in, the women started filing failure-to-warn lawsuits against the various manufacturers. Manufacturers of the devices include Boston Scientific, American Medical Systems, Coloplast, CR Bard and Johnson & Johnson. The FDA has sort of backed up the women’s claims when agency officials stated that these types of complications are not rare. The agency even went so far as to express that the “devices may actually be more harmful when compared to alternative methods for treating POP.”
One woman recently described her pain to Denver CBS4, saying, “The pain is so bad that I sometimes go to sleep crying. The pain is so bad that I stay up until 5:00 a.m. trying to let the pain just go away. I have no life. I can’t do anything without being in pain.”
A couple of lawsuits resulted in settlements and awards and it is hoped that more settlements will be negotiated with the manufacturers of these devices. One of those settlements was negotiated after an award was granted in a case that was took place in West Virginia. That lawsuit against CR Bard resulted in a $2 million dollar award for the plaintiff. C.R. Bard faces more than 8,000 claims over their Avaulta vaginal mesh device, which has also been linked to organ damage. With so many studies backing up these women’s claims, and the FDA even siding with them, it seems unlikely that these claims will go unanswered for long.
