Four Fla. Women Tell Their Ordeal of Vaginal Mesh Gone Wrong

Four local women in Jacksonville, Florida narrated in detail their vaginal mesh nightmare in an effort to educate other women about the real risks of the medical device. Talking with First Coast News about their ordeal, they all revealed the same common thread: The complications from their vaginal mesh implants were so severe that surgery was required—but they may never be the same again.

Vaginal mesh and other devices in the family, such as bladder slings and transvaginal mesh, are designed to help with incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Both of these conditions are uncomfortable and potentially embarrassing, but many woman claim they wouldn’t take such a risk if they knew the real hazards.

“The pain was severe enough I couldn’t stay still on the bed. My legs would thrash. I would roll from side to side,” vaginal mesh patient Linda Felts told the local news station.

The devices are made from metal and have a tendency to chew into surrounding flesh and organs. Thousands of vaginal mesh lawsuits have been filed by victims like Felts who claim there were not adequate warnings about the risks of vaginal mesh complications. Similar to chicken wiring, when placed next to soft, vulnerable tissue, an inordinate amount of women reveal that it was only a matter of time before they started experiencing excruciating pain.

Elizabeth Greene, another Jacksonville resident, says, “I had nothing but infections, totally constant.”

That’s another vaginal mesh side effect that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. What happens when metal eats into soft tissue? It exposes the body to infection, and battling them can become a constant challenge.

Irene Hicks said, “It just became unbearable and there would be times I would have to lay in bed with hot pads you heat up because I had inflammation.”

This isn’t what any of these women signed up for when they agreed to receive a vaginal mesh implant to treat issues such as pelvic organ prolapse and stress incontinence. However, their physicians aren’t necessarily to blame.

Just like anyone else, doctors rely on the information available to make the most sound decisions for their patients. With transvaginal mesh, there were no warnings about what could really happen when complications arise. Vaginal mesh lawsuits have been filed by people like these women, claiming that the companies who manufacture the devices either didn’t test them properly or failed to warn about the risks, perhaps knowing about them fully. It’s a profitable business, but an extremely high number of people have stepped up to the plate to file vaginal mesh complaints or to share their story.

Barbara Carter says she “went into seclusion from this. It took a toll on me. It took a toll on my family. I could not go to the grocery, I couldn’t go to church, I couldn’t go anywhere. I was hurting so much I had to start wearing men’s underwear, sweatpants.”

Even though Carter underwent vaginal mesh surgery in 2007 to fix the problem, she says her life is permanently changed. She was simply suffering from urinary incontinence, a common ailment for women her age. She was told a bladder sling implant could help bolster up her bladder and fix the issue. It seemed like a minor surgery and would that would help make her life better—she was wrong.

“The next morning after surgery, I knew something wasn’t right. I had pain where I had never had pain before. I told my doctor when we went in the next morning I couldn’t move my body. My legs hurt so bad, he told me I would get better. I didn’t get better, I got worse.” This went on for three full years, with her doctor telling her everything was fine. Finally, she went to get a second opinion and that’s when the reality of the vaginal mesh hazards hit hard.

“They found out I had the mesh and it was all in my bladder and basically in my intestines everywhere and I went to the Mayo Clinic in 2010 and they had to open me up and did pelvic reconstructive surgery to try to get rid of all that mesh that had eroded and was floating around and caused all the infection.”

However, this wasn’t a quick fix for Carter. Like many vaginal mesh victims, not all of the pieces could be fully removed. There are some instances where a mesh gets so embedded that remnants have to stay. In some cases, this leads to a lifetime of pain or even infertility.

It’s not what Carter or any of these women signed up for. Once a mesh has become so deeply embedded, the only option is revision surgery—sometimes multiple surgeries—in an attempt to remove the pieces. These surgeries are both expensive, painful and can cause a big recovery period in which a woman can’t work. The debt caused by faulty vaginal mesh implants can be exorbitant. There are even cases where divorce is caused by vaginal mesh problems, with both partners naming the device as the issue, since the complications make the woman unable to have pain-free sex again.

A History of Issues

Back in 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a warning about the complications of vaginal mesh devices.

“Although rare, these complications can have serious consequences. The reports have not been linked to a single brand or model of mesh,” the notice explained. However, it was too late for thousands of women who had opted for the device years prior.

“It’s a national catastrophe,” says one attorney who’s representing women in vaginal mesh cases.

Felts says, “This stuff migrates. It goes everywhere and attaches to things and when it does, it gets tight and that’s when you get that pain…it’s like a burning pain, wrenching pain.”

A local Daytona doctor, Bruce Ramshaw, treats women from around the globe who come to him for vaginal mesh removal.

“You can see they are like a screen door screen, and they come out of the package nice and soft but in the body in some people they can undergo pretty significant reactions and they can get brittle. They can get more hard. They can crunch up into a ball or like a rock,” Dr. Ramshaw says.

For patients like Hicks, the nightmare never ends. “I did have a life before this. I don’t have a life anymore. I don’t even know who I am anymore,” she says.

Were You Injured by Vaginal Mesh Complications?

If you had revision surgery to repair damage caused by vaginal mesh, or you have surgery scheduled, you may be able to take legal action against the device manufacturer. These companies have already paid out millions of dollars in vaginal mesh lawsuit settlements and are continuing to settle cases. Don’t delay – see if you qualify to pursue compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages by filling out the short form at the Transvaginal Mesh, Bladder Sling Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.