Consumer Group Calls for Recall of Surgical Mesh
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Consumer safety group Public Citizen has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to recall vaginal mesh surgical products like the Bard Avaulta, because of the high risks that these pose to patients and the potential for long-term life altering injuries. According to the petition, the use of the surgical mesh products is very often physically and psychologically devastating for women, who may not even be aware that they have other choices besides the mesh.
Surgical mesh products like Bard Avaulta are typically used to treat pelvic organ prolapse in women. Pelvic organ prolapse is a condition that develops after childbirth. Organs like the bladder and the uterus shift out of position, and protrude through the body. A surgical mesh product like the Bard Avaulta is implanted to keep the organs in place.
Apart from Bard Avaulta, which is manufactured by C.R. Bard Inc., surgical mesh products are also manufactured by Cook Medical, Ethicon, which is a division of Johnson & Johnson and Covidien PLC.
In October 2008, the Food and Drug Administration warned about specific dangers from the use of the surgical mesh products. The agency has received more than 1,000 complaints of adverse events, and companies like C.R. Bard Inc. have been slapped with product liability lawsuits.
Some of the injuries that women have reported include chronic and acute pain, incontinence, and recurrence of the prolapse. Women have also suffered from infections, inflammation, and formation of abscesses. Many of the women have reported pain during sexual intercourse. The use of surgical mesh has also been linked to the shrinkage of tissues. In some patients, the injuries have been so severe that patients have required blood transfusions and even additional surgeries.
Los Angeles Bard Avaulta lawyers find the worst part about these injuries is that they're so preventable. Experts have since found that many cases of pelvic organ prolapse can be treated without implantation of surgical mesh devices. However in 2003, a study found that every year approximately 200,000 surgeries to implant mesh products are performed in the United States.
Surgical mesh products like Bard Avaulta are typically used to treat pelvic organ prolapse in women. Pelvic organ prolapse is a condition that develops after childbirth. Organs like the bladder and the uterus shift out of position, and protrude through the body. A surgical mesh product like the Bard Avaulta is implanted to keep the organs in place.
Apart from Bard Avaulta, which is manufactured by C.R. Bard Inc., surgical mesh products are also manufactured by Cook Medical, Ethicon, which is a division of Johnson & Johnson and Covidien PLC.
In October 2008, the Food and Drug Administration warned about specific dangers from the use of the surgical mesh products. The agency has received more than 1,000 complaints of adverse events, and companies like C.R. Bard Inc. have been slapped with product liability lawsuits.
Some of the injuries that women have reported include chronic and acute pain, incontinence, and recurrence of the prolapse. Women have also suffered from infections, inflammation, and formation of abscesses. Many of the women have reported pain during sexual intercourse. The use of surgical mesh has also been linked to the shrinkage of tissues. In some patients, the injuries have been so severe that patients have required blood transfusions and even additional surgeries.
Los Angeles Bard Avaulta lawyers find the worst part about these injuries is that they're so preventable. Experts have since found that many cases of pelvic organ prolapse can be treated without implantation of surgical mesh devices. However in 2003, a study found that every year approximately 200,000 surgeries to implant mesh products are performed in the United States.