Millions of Dollars Awarded in Transvaginal Mesh Cases

Women who have been harmed by transvaginal surgical mesh are finally seeing justice in the form of positive lawsuit verdicts in the millions of dollars. Some of the verdicts that have come in this year include:

• A South Dakota woman was awarded $3.35 million because the mesh manufacturer—Johnson & Johnson—failed to adequately warn her doctor of the potential dangers of the surgical mesh.
• A New Jersey woman was awarded $7.76 million from mesh manufacturer Johnson & Johnson/Ethicon in punitive damages because the company failed to provide an adequate warning the patient’s surgeon, and because the company fraudulently misrepresented the product’s risks.
• In the first transvaginal mesh lawsuit filed against manufacturer C.R. Bard to go to trial, the jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff, awarding her $2 million for her serious injuries, which included perforation of her internal organs, vaginal scarring, and pelvic pain.

Surgical mesh is used to repair conditions in which body organs need extra support because the muscles and ligaments supporting internal organs weaken, causing the organs to sag inside the body cavity. Surgical mesh is used to create a kind of sling or hammock to keep the organs in their proper place. In women, mesh is frequently used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.

But this surgical solution is seriously, dangerously flawed. Over the past three years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received about 4,000 reports of severe complications associated with surgical mesh, including three fatalities. Complications can include:

• Erosion through inner wall of the vagina;
• Mesh contraction, leading to vaginal shortening and pain;
• Infection;
• Abscesses;
• Pain;
• Urinary problems;
• Recurrence of prolapse and/or incontinence.

While some manufacturers have plans to remove their surgical mesh products from the market, it’s not happening immediately. That means more women will be put at risk before these brands of mesh are gone for good.

Under the law, women who have been seriously injured by surgical mesh complications have the right to seek compensation for their losses and suffering from Johnson & Johnson, or any other company that manufactures the products.

If you or someone you care about has had surgery using transvaginal mesh to correct pelvic organ prolapse or urinary incontinence, you have the right to seek compensation for your losses and for your suffering. If you believe you have been seriously injured by transvaginal mesh, HensonFuerst Attorneys may be able to help. Someone is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to take your call, at 1-800-4-LAWMED; or contact us via our website at www.hensonfuerst.com.

Life Doesn’t Wait, and neither should you. If you have questions, HensonFuerst has answers.