Tens of thousands of women have undergone procedures involving the implantation of pelvic mesh as a means to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or pelvic organ prolapse (POP), conditions that often develop as a result of childbirth.

Unfortunately, serious pelvic mesh complications have been reported, with health regulators warning that one in ten women will suffer pelvic mesh side effects.

Potential pelvic mesh complications are quite severe and include:

• Obstruction of the urinary tract
• Recurrence of stress urinary incontinence
• Painful intercourse
• Infection and irritation
• Bladder, bowel or urethra injury
• Pelvic blood vessel damage
• Erosion of the mesh itself

Attorneys General Target Pelvic Mesh Maker

According to a recent Fox News report, Johnson & Johnson, one of the leading manufacturers of pelvic mesh devices, may have failed to disclosed the serious risks of pelvic mesh implants for thousands of women, prompting both Washington and California attorney generals to file lawsuits against the company.

Attorneys General Bob Ferguson of Washington and Kamala Harris of California claim Johnson & Johnson misled patients like Dawna H. who suffers from irreversible pelvic mesh side effects, about the risks and severity of pelvic mesh complications.

The lawsuits allege that these pelvic mesh side effects include urinary incontinence, loss of sexual function, constipation, and severe pain.

“For many victims, their health and their quality of life were forever changed as a result of this deception,” Ferguson told a news conference Tuesday. “Sitting upright, lying on their side, walking all became incredibly painful. … These women were robbed of their ability to live and work in the way they once did.”

Washington’s lawsuit asserts that J&J violated state consumer protection laws by concealing pelvic mesh side effects, specifically that the device can:

• Cause chronic inflammation as the body rejects the foreign material
• Harbor infection that can live indefinitely in it small weave
• Frequently protrude into an organ or through the vaginal wall, or erode

Warnings of Pelvic Mesh Complications and Risks

The Mayo Clinic’s website cautions patients that treating POP or SUI with pelvic mesh can cause complications like:

• Mesh erosion
• Infection
• Pain

Many pelvic mesh complications require additional surgery to treat or fix problems caused by pelvic mesh.

The volume of pelvic mesh com became so substantial that the FDA issued a public safety notice in late 2008 about pelvic mesh devices and in 2011, warned that pelvic mesh complications are not rare, and that alternative treatments may be preferable.

In 2012, the FDA issued a requirement that manufacturers of the products conduct new clinical trials to assess the risk of serious pelvic mesh complications.

Pelvic Mesh Injury Lawsuits

No less than 100,000 individual pelvic mesh lawsuits related to pelvic mesh procedures are currently making their way through state and federal courts across the country, alleging serious complications with pelvic mesh products made by:

• Boston Scientific
• Johnson & Johnson
• Ethicon
• American Medical Systems
• Coloplast
• R. Bard
• Mentor
• Neomedic

Several different multidistrict litigations (MDL) have been established in order to consolidate and efficiently manage similar federal pelvic mesh lawsuits, and seven of these are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

An additional MDL has been established in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, and still more new pelvic mesh cases are still expected to be filed on behalf of women who have been injured by pelvic mesh.

If you received a pelvic mesh implant and experienced pelvic mesh complications afterward, you may be entitled to receive compensation for lost wages, medical costs, emotional distress and any physical pain and suffering you were caused.