Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit Continually Increasing

What is a Transvaginal mesh?

Vaginal mesh is used by surgeons as a medical implant for the treatment of Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) and Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI). Sufferers of these two debilitating conditions are women of old age who have had past histories of hysterectomies and menopauses. In addition, some young women are also at risk for these ailments, especially those who have had delivered vaginally before.   With regards to this truth, the number of women introduced to the implantation of trans-vaginal mesh (TVM) is continuously rising.

As observed recently, many women across the United States were affected with Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) and Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI).  At first, the use of vaginal mesh  gained the physicians’ and the consumers’ confidence since patient’s recovery from the symptoms of POP and SUI were strikingly fast, but after a few years, complaints of its complications started to pile up and increase at a rapid pace. 

When was the vaginal mesh first used?

Used by most physicians as a surgical treatment for hernia, surgical meshes invaded the world of surgeries in the 1950’s.  It was then used to repair POP and SUI in 1970; and in 199o, it was introduced as a vaginal implant for the treatment of the same conditions. 

The use of vaginal implants has caused too much uproar among affected women who had developed irreversible complications from the implantation of the vaginal mesh, which resulted to the influx of vaginal mesh lawsuits all over the United States.  

The most frequently reported complications linked to vaginal meshes are: erosion of the vaginal mesh, hemorrhage, infection, pelvic organ perforations, recurring prolapse, and urinary disabilities.  These symptoms are benign at first, but these can be harmful in the long run and may need several procedures to repair; some of these may even be irreparable. 

To date, the number of lawsuits recorded is indefinite, but with the increasing number of unsatisfied consumers, there’s no doubt that TVM lawsuits will continue to rise. 

A safety warning on the use of vaginal mesh were issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to all health care providers to ensure the benefits of TVM implants before considering them as treatment for their POP and SUI patients. 

Even with the announcements made by the FDA, there are still many physicians performing them in the treatment of POP and SUI and manufacturers are still producing and selling them to healthcare facilities. 

A consumer advocacy group called Public Citizen petitioned the FDA on August 25, 2011 for the recall of all non-absorbable vaginal mesh products.   Recently, the FDA is still carefully investigating this issue, and encourages all health care providers and patients to actively participate in this investigation by reporting any complications of vaginally-implanted surgical mesh the first time it is observed.

What are the Medical Techniques Used to Correct Uterine Prolapse?

Women have endlessly suffered because of the debilitating effects of surgical mesh in the treatment of uterine prolapse, medical news says. Truly, this medical tool has slowly become controversial that even women who have not received it have already started asking questions. What happens during vaginal mesh placement?

Uterine prolapse is one of the many diseases that vaginal mesh is meant to address; however, there are also other options available to women. Doctors would almost always recommend the removal of the uterus, but only if the patient has no plans of giving birth or when the presence of the uterus feeds more harm to the patient than benefits.

Hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) is classified into three types, depending on the extent of the parts removed, and these are subtotal, total, and radical hysterectomy. In subtotal hysterectomy, only the displaced part of the uterus is excised, but when the whole uterus is ultimately out of place, the total removal of the organ and the cervix may be implemented.

Radical hysterectomy may only be done in cases when the womb is cancerous. With hysterectomy procedures, the patient’s chance to recover is high but this method is not for everyone. Women with pelvic and ovarian problems are carefully considered.

Colpocleisis is yet another surgical approach for uterine prolapse. This is usually used in severe cases when the prolapse is difficult to manage. It involves stitching the front part of the vagina onto its back, hence completely sealing off the vaginal itroitus. Women who have no problem putting an end to their sex life may opt for this procedure as well as those who have poor chances of getting cured from all the other approaches.

Another type of uterine repair is sacrospinous fixation, which needs the autografting of some of the uterine ligaments into the spinal ligaments, thus strengthening the pelvic floor. This is equivalent to vaginal mesh implant, but instead of a biological tissue, an artificial material that is often made of polypropylene is applied.

Urology and gynecology specialists trust that a vaginal support effectively fixes the damaged tissues by reinforcing the base of the pelvic diaphragm. While some recipients believe that doctors should be held liable for not disclosing the negative complications of this procedure, many are after the manufacturers that produced them and failed to assess the effectiveness and the safety of their products. On account of this, there have already been thousands of vaginal mesh lawsuit in the United States up to this day.

References:

http://women.webmd.com/guide/hysterectomy?page=2
http://www.gconstantine.co.uk/COLPOC~1.htm
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/uterine_prolapse/hic_uterine_prolapse.aspx