Patients who received vaginal mesh implants have overwhelmed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with reports of potentially disfiguring consequences brought by the use of vaginal mesh. While doctors keep on practicing vaginal mesh implantation for the surgical management of Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) and Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI), many women are filing lawsuits against vaginal mesh makers which never ceased to market vaginal mesh products.
The most commonly reported complications on vaginal mesh implantation include erosion of the mesh, pain, infection, bleeding, recurrence of prolapse, urinary difficulties, and pelvic organ perforations.
Erosion of the mesh is difficult to repair once it unfolds. In some cases, it might even be impossible to treat. It is caused by the vaginal mesh not conforming firmly to the connective tissues of the vaginal wall making the surrounding tissues react to it by pushing it out of the vagina. A tugging sensation or tightness in the vagina is the initial symptom of mesh erosion. Frequently, this is accompanied with pain when staying in one position for a long time, or during sexual intercourse. Among the many complications of vaginal mesh surgery, mesh erosion is the most consistently reported negative effect. This complication is deadly, since it can lead to other complications. Mesh erosion can predispose patients to infections, bleeding, pain, and malodorous vaginal discharges.
The number of reported complaints on vaginal mesh complications continue to rise as lawsuits filed by unsatisfied recipients multiply. Various makers of vaginal mesh all over the United States are subjected to class action and individual lawsuits. Both recipients and manufacturers of vaginal mesh products are filing for a request to centralize vaginal mesh lawsuits into one federal court.
American Medical Systems, one of the many mesh manufacturers in the United States, filed a motion to the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation last November 23, 2011 to consolidate all lawsuits such as individual and
vaginal mesh class action lawsuit for a more cost-effective pretrial proceedings. Patients who filed vaginal mesh lawsuits against Boston Scientific Corp., American Medical System Inc., and Ethicon Inc. also petitioned to consolidate all vaginal mesh related lawsuits into one federal court. But, federal districts in the country are still to decide on the approval of these requests.
