Drug Injury Lawyers Blog
A federal judge has issued a ruling in a pelvic mesh injury case against manufacturer C.R. Bard from a plaintiff whose injuries occurred nearly two decades ago. Judge Joel H. Slomsky upheld the woman’s negligent manufacturing and failure to warn claims while dismissing other allegations, including those contending that the medical device had a manufacturing defect. Slomsky said that even if certain products cannot be made safe, this does not automatically mean they were made defective. C.R. Bard had sought to have the entire products liability case dismissed.
The plaintiff underwent surgery in 1996 for bilateral ventral hernias. C.R. Bard’s Marlex mesh was used in the procedure. During the surgery, she contends, she experienced abdominal pain. The following year, the woman went to an E.R. because she was experiencing severe diarrhea, vaginal bleeding, abdominal pain, and dizziness. She says that doctor there was unable to diagnose her symptoms and that she continued to experience symptoms because of the mesh product for years.
Abdominal abscesses were found in her body in 2011. During exploratory surgery, the surgeon discovered that the mesh product had perforated internal structures in the woman’s body. Some of the mesh was removed but not everything. Instead, the plaintiffs’ appendix had to be taken out and she also underwent bowel resection surgery.
In other pelvic mesh news, Judge Joseph Goodwin of the U.S. District Court for Western Virginia recently denied Boston Scientific’s motion to exclude four cases from multi-district litigation. The manufacturer wanted the defective medical device lawsuits over its Pinnacle pelvic floor repair kits removed due to what it claims were key differences from the other complaints filed. Goodwin tossed out the motion for severance.
Aside from the federal cases in the multi-district litigation, there are also at least 1700 other lawsuits that have been consolidated under a Massachusetts state court. Boston Scientific reportedly disclosed recently that it is the defendant in about 23,000 pelvic mesh cases.
Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, has been calling for a total ban on transvaginal mesh products but the Food and Drug Administration rejected its bid, noting that it did not consider a complete market withdrawal the proper way to handle safety issues involving devices.
At Altman & Altman LLP, our Boston pelvic mesh injury lawyer represent women and their families seeking damages for their injuries resulting from mesh procedural and device complications. We are familiar with the painful and debilitating injuries that can arise and we are here to help victims receive the compensation they are owed for medical expenses, pain and suffering, rehabilitation costs, lost wages, and other losses. You also may have reason to pursue a Boston medical malpractice case against a negligent doctor or surgeon.
FDA Denies Citizen Petition’s Request to Ban Marketing of Non-Absorbable Surgical Mesh Products for Transvaginal Repair of Pelvic Organ Prolapse, Natlawreview.com, August 21, 2014
Negligent Manufacturing, Failure-To-Warn Claims to Proceed Against C.R. Bard in Mesh Case, Harris Martin Publishing, August 4, 2014
Boston Scientific Denied Bid To Sever Pelvic Mesh Cases, MedDeviceOnline.com, August 25, 2014
