Vaginal Mesh

October 7, 2014

AMS Settles Transvaginal Mesh Cases

Encouraging news for some women who have been injured by the transvaginal mesh debacle. Endo International Plc, the owner of AMS, has agreed to settle its product liability transvaginal mesh lawsuits that allege its line of vaginal-mesh implants caused personal injury by eroding through the vagina in some women and left them in pain and exposed to serious infections.

According to Endo, they settled “substantially all” the remaining U.S. lawsuits against its American Medical Systems Holdings unit over the Perigee, Apogee and Elevate mesh implants. Endo announced that the company was adding $400 million to its $1.2 billion liability reserve for the devices. These vaginal mesh devices were designed to support pelvic muscles and treat incontinence.

The deal settles more than 10,000 lawsuits. Endo agreed earlier this year to pay about $830 million to settle an additional 20,000 suits over the implants. That settlement was announced after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said vaginal-mesh inserts should be subject to stricter safety requirements because they are high-risk devices.

August 30, 2014

Boston Scientific Wins 2nd Trans Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to a Massachusetts jury, Boston Scientific’s vaginal-mesh sling was not defectively designed and the company properly warned about its health risks. This verdict marks a second victory for the company in two state trials over the vaginal mesh inserts.

Jurors in state court in Woburn, Massachusetts, cleared Boston Scientific of any liability for Maria Cardenas’s injuries. Cardenas, had the Boston Scientific’s Obtryx sling implanted to fix urinary incontinence problems. According to Cardenas, the sling caused her pain and she was forced to have it removed surgically.

Transvaginal Mesh and Sling Defects

August 3, 2014

Boston Scientific Wins First State Court Mesh Trial

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Massachusetts state jury found for the defense, in the first of more than 20,000 transvaginal mesh lawsuits filed against Boston Scientific. The plaintiff, Diane Albright, claimed that Boston Scientific Pinnacle transvaginal mesh was defective and caused her to suffer significant and painful pelvic injuries.

The Massachusetts jury found that Albright failed to prove her claim that the Boston Scientific mesh was defective or that inadequate warnings were provided about the risk of complications.

This case was the first Boston Scientific mesh lawsuit to go before a jury, and several Boston Scientific mesh trials are expected later next year. In Massachusetts state court, there are 1,700 cases against Boston Scientific, and the next trial is expected to begin on August 11.

June 14, 2014

Boston Scientific Trans Vaginal Mesh Lawsuits Update

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Boston Scientific is exposed to more than 10,000 federal product liability lawsuits filed by women who experienced injuries from transvaginal mesh products implanted for repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or female stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

U.S. federal Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, is presiding over six federal multidistrict litigation for vaginal mesh claims brought against different manufacturers. According to the court, the first bellwether trial involving eleven Boston Scientific cases will begin on October 14, 2014.

June 12, 2014

Endo AMS Settles Vaginal-Mesh Injuries Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Endo Health Solutions Inc., said it will pay about $830 million to settle most transvaginal lawsuits. Thousands of injured women allege that its vaginal-mesh implants eroded, left them incontinent and made sex painful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xvv9cd07G8&feature=player_detailpage

Endo’s American Medical Systems Inc. unit reported that it’s settling about 20,000 law suit product liability injury claims over the medical devices, which include the Perigee, Apogee and Elevate implants. Endo, a medical device company based in Ireland, is still exposed to at least 5,000 injury claims against AMS, including some that have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings in West Virginia.

June 6, 2014

J&J Ethicon Trans Vaginal Mesh MDL Trial Set For August

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Johnson & Johnson and its Ethicon subsidiary are exposed to more than 17,500 Ethicon pelvic mesh lawsuits in the federal court system.

Thousands of injured women have filed Ethicon Gynecare mesh product liability lawsuits for transvaginal repair, pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) damage symptoms after the mesh surgeries.

The Ethicon Gynecare pelvic mesh and bladder sling products have been under fire for causing severe and debilitating injuries when the mesh erodes through the vagina, causing serious infections and the need for revision surgeries.

April 30, 2014

FDA: Reclassification of Trans Vaginal Mesh as High Risk Device

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued two proposed orders to address the health risks associated with surgical mesh used for transvaginal repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). If finalized, the orders would reclassify surgical mesh for transvaginal POP from a moderate-risk device (class II) to a high-risk device (class III) and require manufacturers to submit a premarket approval (PMA) application for the agency to evaluate safety and effectiveness.

What is Pelvic Organ Prolapse?

April 5, 2014

J&J Loses Texas Transvaginal Mesh Incontinence Sling Lawsuit

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Good news for Transvaginal mesh and sling plaintiffs and it’s more bad news for Johnson and Johnson’s (J&J) Ethicon division in its ongoing vaginal mesh debacle. The company will have to pay out again, in these many cases to go to court over its allegedly defective transvaginal mesh products and urinary incontinence slings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xvv9cd07G8&feature=player_detailpage

Johnson & Johnson, the world’s biggest maker of medical products, was ordered by a Texas jury to pay $1.2 million to a woman who alleged that vaginal-mesh implants to treat incontinence was defectively designed. This was the first verdict against the company over those devices.

March 10, 2014

Coloplast Settles Vaginal Mesh Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to confidential sources and a news report in Bloomberg, Coloplast A/S, has agreed to pay about $16 million to settle its transvaginal mesh lawsuits. Injured women who were implanted with the Danish mesh manufacturer’s vaginal-mesh inserts had filed personal injury claims against the company.

The Denmark-based Coloplast agreed in January to resolve about 400 suits over the plastic mesh implants which are designed to support internal organs. The settlement is said to provide an average payment of about $40,000 for each claimant.

January 24, 2014

Report: J&J Ethicon Vaginal Mesh Company Destroyed Crucial Files

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Injured women who have alleged product liability vaginal mesh lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon, have also filed a motion for sanctions. This motion claims that the manufacturer has destroyed a massive amount of data that was relevant to the litigation. Allegedly Ethicon destroyed or lost hundreds of thousands of important documents that should have been preserved.

Thousands of Ethicon Vaginal Mesh Claims