The Massachusetts Appeals Court says that the vaginal mesh lawsuit that was dismissed by the Suffolk County Superior Court can proceed. The lower court had said that the plaintiff failed to satisfy pleading standards. However, the appeals court disagrees.
The plaintiff, Billie Allen, is seeking damages from Boston Scientific and American Medical System (Endo Health Solutions). She claims that she experienced the side effects of pain, mesh erosion, and vaginal scarring after she was implanted with their devices.
Vaginal Mesh Cases
There are currently over 30,000 transvaginal mesh implant lawsuits pending in the US. The device is typically inserted through the vagina to treat Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI), involving the involuntary leaking of urine and Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP), which is when the tissue that allows the organs (bladder, rectum, vaginal apex, uterus) in that area to stay in place to stretch or weaken. POP may cause the organs to bulge through the vagina or fall past its opening.
The implanting of these mesh devices had become the procedure of choice than more traditional methods. Now, however, there is overwhelming evidence to show that working with the mesh implants is proving dangerous for a lot of women.
The Food and Drug Administration now says that complications from transvaginal mesh implants to fix POP are not rare-unlike what was previously thought. Should the mesh device erode or perforate, infection nerve damages, pain, sexual dysfunction, bleeding, pain during intercourse, vaginal scarring, recurring prolapse, recurring intercourse, vaginal shrinking, emotional trauma, and other serious side effects may result.
Revision surgery is often required to fix vaginal mesh defects and this too can lead to more pain and complications. It can take multiple operations to remove the mesh from the patient’s body. In some cases, a mesh implant device may be irremovable. Additional procedures to treat the other complications, including organ repair surgery, may be necessary.
According to Bloomberg News, vaginal mesh manufacturers CR Bard, Boston Scientific, Endo Health Solutions, Cook Medical, and Coloplast A/S are in negotiations to settle thousands of transvaginal mesh cases. That said, the number of defective medical device cases over mesh implants could balloon to over 50,000 products liability lawsuits as others also seek to settle. Johnson & Johnson, which is facing more than 12,200 pelvic mesh claims is not involved in these current talks.
This year alone Endo has paid at least $54.5 million to resolve a number of complaints. While Bard’s settlement efforts come after losing two trials, including one in which a California court ordered the mesh device maker to pay the plaintiff $5.5 million over its Avaulta implant. That device is no longer found on the market.
In Massachusetts, you want to work with a Boston vaginal mesh defect law firm that knows how to recoup defective medical device compensation for the harm a victim has suffered.
Bard, Vaginal-Mesh Makers, Said to Be in Settlement Talks, Bloomberg, September 30, 2013
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Vicodin, Oxycontin, & Percocet Linked to Birth Defects, Drug Injury Lawyers Blog, September 26, 2013
Woman Awarded $3.35 million in Vaginal Mesh Case against Johnson & Johnson, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 11, 2013