A settlement has been reached with American Medical Systems Inc., an American unit of Endo International plc that represents a resolution of claims for more than 100 pelvic mesh lawsuits in the multidistrict litigation in West Virginia.

The pelvic mesh lawsuits that are part of the multidistrict litigation allege that the medical devices have caused a number of serious pelvic mesh complications.

The lawsuits settled by AMS included Apogee and Perigee systems, the MiniArc Sling and the IntePro Y Sling, as well as other products. The settlement included approximately 135 lawsuits against the manufacturer.

The pelvic mesh side effects reported by plaintiffs include painful intercourse (dyspareunia), chronic pelvic pain, mesh erosion, chronic infection and inflammation, mesh shrinkage or contraction, degradation of mesh material, urinary incontinence, recurrent pelvic organ prolapse, penile injury experienced by male sexual partners, bladder and bowel perforations, and scarring in the vaginal and pelvic regions.

Pelvic mesh, also known as imaginal mesh, transvaginal tape, TVT, bladder slings and other names, consists of a mesh-based implant that is surgically implanted to treat pelvic organ prolapse.

In July 2015, another 100 plaintiffs reached settlements with American Medical Systems in their respective pelvic mesh lawsuits.

Endo International told U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, the federal judge overseeing the pelvic mesh lawsuits MDL, that the company had “compromised and settled all claims” for approximately 360 lawsuits alleging pelvic mesh complications.

In April 2014, Endo International claimed that it agreed to pay $830 million to settle approximately 20,000 pelvic mesh lawsuits that were pending at the time.

Currently there are seven separate MDLs pending in West Virginia containing about 70,000 pelvic mesh lawsuits against various companies. Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, has about 23,000 lawsuits alleging pelvic mesh complications in its MDL. Boston Scientific, C.R. Bard, and Coloplast are other manufacturers named in the pelvic mesh lawsuits filed within the MDL.

Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration reclassified pelvic mesh medical devices as high risk devices requiring the agencies most stringent safety evaluation following receipt of thousands of reports of pelvic mesh side effects.

One particular pelvic mesh side effects lawsuit was tossed from a multidistrict litigation, saying the claims in the lawsuit were barred by a two-year statute of limitations.

The judge ruled that the woman should have raised concerns about the pelvic mesh complications by the end of 2007. The Fourth Circuit court of appeals affirmed the ruling set forth by the lower court.

In an unpublished opinion, a three-judge panel stated that the plaintiff’s claims, as well as her husband’s claims, were filed too long after the state of Utah’s two-year statute of limitations covering product liability actions had expired.

The pelvic mesh lawsuit was severed from the MDL last year following a summary judgment won by Boston Scientific Corp. last year.

The Pelvic Mesh Lawsuits MDL is In re: American Medical Systems Inc. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2:12-md-02325, in the US. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.