In a vaginal mesh bellwether trial, which is part of a larger ongoing vaginal mesh multidistrict litigation (MDL), the jury handed down a verdict of $73.4 million in damages against the medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific Corp.

Lead plaintiff Martha Salazar filed her vaginal mesh lawsuit against Boston Scientific after she allegedly experienced severe complications from their Obtryx transvaginal mesh implant product, which was implanted in Salazar four years ago to treat her stress urinary incontinence condition.

Among other painful and debilitating vaginal mesh complications, Salazar alleges that due to the Obtryx mesh’s design defect she now lives with permanent nerve damage.

A jury awarded Salazar about $23 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages, according to a court filing.

Salazar’s Obtryx vaginal mesh lawsuit is the third bellwether trial in the larger Boston Scientific MDL to go before a jury and so far is the only bellwether trial to side with the plaintiff’s allegations.

There are currently 12,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits pending in the federal court system nationwide that fall under the jurisdiction of the Boston Scientific mesh litigation. The majority of these cases have been consolidated into the larger vaginal mesh MDL.

Additional Boston Scientific bellwether trials involving other medical devices including other vaginal mesh models have set trial dates for later this year. One trial that involves 11 separate Obtryx vaginal mesh lawsuits will begin on November 3.

The Obtryx Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit is Salazar v. Lopez, Case No. DC-1214349, in the District Court for Dallas County, 95th Judicial District of Texas (Dallas).

UPDATE: A federal judge reduced Lopez’s vaginal mesh settlement award by half to about $34 million, citing a state cap.

Vaginal Mesh Complications

Transvaginal mesh systerms are medical devices designed to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence. Most surgical vaginal mesh is manufactured from a porous synthetic material or other organic material. This mesh product is then implanted in the body to repair damage tissue.

From its inception until about a few years ago, vaginal mesh products were consider a safe and effective medical device for prolapse and incontinence treatment. In July 2011, however, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned transvaginal mesh consumers of the dangers associated with many surgical mesh products.

According to the FDA’s Public Health Notification, “over the past three years, FDA has received over 1,000 reports from nine surgical mesh manufacturers of complications that were associated with surgical mesh devices used to repair POP [pelvic organ prolapse] and SUI [stress urinary incontinence]. These mesh devices are usually placed transvaginally utilizing tools for minimally invasive placement.”

Some vaginal mesh side effects reported by various patients and consumers include:

• Pain during intercourse
• Urinary issues
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Scarring in the vaginal area
• Perforated bowels, bladder, and/or blood vessels
• Mesh erosion into the vagina
• Infection
• Various organ injuries

Many of these vaginal mesh side effects and complications require additional surgery and treatment, which in some cases requires vaginal mesh removal surgery, IV therapy, blood transfusions, and surgical draining of abscesses and/or hematomas.

Martha Salazar is just one of over 60,000 women consumers across the nation who have filed a transvaginal mesh lawsuit against a vaginal mesh implant, bladder sling, and vaginal mesh manufacturer or joined a vaginal mesh class action lawsuit after they allegedly sustained severe and permanent damages from use of these medical devices.