19 Plaintiffs Join Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit Against Multiple Manufacturers

19 Plaintiffs Join Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit Against Multiple Manufacturers

By Sarah Pierce

 

Following last month’s landmark $5.5 million vaginal mesh settlement awarded to a California couple, more couples have decided to sue vaginal mesh manufacturers for injuries the wife sustained from a defective device. According to a new vaginal mesh lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 19 Plaintiffs assert they sustained injuries from defective devices manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, Gynecare, American Medical Systems and Boston Scientific. The Plaintiffs include several spouses seeking loss of consortium damages for losing the companionship of their wife due to her injuries.

 

The Plaintiffs in the vaginal mesh lawsuit accuse the manufacturers of negligence, products liability and other claims for marketing a device that was unsafe. Vaginal mesh, transvaginal mesh and bladder sling devices were marketed to treat women with stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, but have come under fire recently for creating more problems than they correct. The problem, vaginal mesh lawyers say, is that these mesh devices were fast-tracked onto the market through an expedited FDA approval process known as 510(k) clearance, which allows medical devices to enter the market if the manufacturer can prove the device is substantially similar to something already on the market. This allowed numerous defective vaginal mesh devices to enter the market without proper safety testing.