Manufacturers of Vaginal Mesh Hit With Lawsuits

Problems with vaginal mesh systems marketed by a number of different medical device manufacturers have caused thousands of women throughout the United States to suffer severe injuries and file vaginal mesh lawsuits. Also known as a pelvic sling or bladder mesh, transvaginal support systems have been associated with a number of serious and debilitating internal injuries for women. Not only do these products pose a risk of serious vaginal mesh complications, there is no evidence that transvaginal insertion of a bladder sling has any benefit for women when its primary use is treating pelvic organ prolapse.

In many surgeries the transvaginal mesh used has failed in one of several ways, often eroding through the vaginal wall or skin. This causes incredible amounts of pain and alters women’s lives who suffer from a malfunctioned transvaginal mesh. Previous accounts of transvaginal mesh defects have women describing their pain, unable to sit, stand or lay in position for more than a few minutes at a time. Categorized by the FDA as medical devices that the FDA can clear for sale based on their similarity to medical devices already on the market and without the benefit of human testing, the implants have so far spawned more than 650 lawsuits filed by patients alleging that they have been significantly injured as a result of having mesh products implanted transvaginally. The use of vaginal mesh for pelvic organ prolapse and female stress urinary incontinence has been linked to painful and potentially disfiguring problems.

The judge presiding over all federal Bard Avaulta vaginal mesh lawsuits has asked the parties to develop a list of potential bellwether cases, which would be prepared for early trial dates in the multidistrict litigation (MDL). More than 250 lawsuits over C.R. Bard vaginal mesh filed in federal courts throughout the United States have been consolidated before Judge Goodwin for pretrial litigation as part of an MDL. While the litigation initially only included Bard Avaulta mesh products, it has since been expanded to include at least 29 other types of vaginal mesh made by C.R. Bard or their subsidiaries, including Pelvicol, PelviLace, PelviSoft, Pelvitex, Uretex and Align mesh.