Boston Scientific is facing an estimated 20,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits that claim thousands of women across the country have suffered serious injuries from the company’s vaginal sling medical devices. One such vaginal mesh lawsuit recently came to a close in Delaware federal court, resulting in $100 million in damages awarded to a woman who allegedly experienced debilitating vaginal mesh complications after using Boston Scientific’s Pinnacle and Advance Fit pelvic mesh.

According to court reports, the Delaware jury ordered Boston Scientific to pay plaintiff Debora B. $25 million in compensatory damages and an additional $75 million in punitive damages. Debora originally filed this vaginal mesh lawsuit in 2011, alleging like thousands of other women across the nation that she sustained damages after using a vaginal sling product to treat her pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.

Debora’s vaginal mesh lawsuit claims that because of the products’ side effects, she was forced to undergo two additional surgeries to remove the vaginal mesh product. Even after those two surgeries, some pieces of the vaginal sling medical devices remained in her body, leading to permanent pain.

The verdict for this Boston Scientific vaginal mesh lawsuit comes on the heels of the company’s April announcement that they settled 3,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits for a total of $119 million. Despite the recent settlements, tens of thousands of vaginal mesh lawsuits are still pending in state and federal courts across the U.S.

So far, Boston Scientific has been hit with several multi-million dollar verdicts in vaginal mesh lawsuits, many of which also involved punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish manufacturers for recklessly manufacturing and marketing medical devices like the allegedly faulty transvaginal mesh products.

Background on Vaginal Mesh

Vaginal mesh products (also known as transvaginal mesh systems or vaginal slings) are medical devices made from porous synthetic materials. These medical devices are made by a variety of companies, including Boston Scientific, and are meant to be implanted in a patient’s body to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and urinary incontinence problems (UIP).

In July of 2011 the FDA published a vaginal mesh device warning, informing consumers of the possible health dangers and injury risks associated with the use of vaginal or transvaginal mesh implants for POP and UIP.

Some vaginal mesh side effects consumers may experience include:

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

Vaginal mesh lawsuits like the one being pursued by Debora allow injured women to receive some compensation for the physical and emotional pain, suffering, and injury caused by vaginal mesh implants. If you believe you were harmed after using a vaginal sling medical device, contact a lawyer to see if you have legal claims against the device manufacturer.