California Woman Files Lawsuit Alleging Serious Injuries from Transvaginal Mesh Implant

A California woman has filed a lawsuit alleging that a transvaginal mesh implant seriously injured her. This lawsuit is part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in which Boston Scientific Corp. is the defendant.

According to the complaint, the Boston Scientific Advantage Fit System, implanted on June 18, 2009, was supposed to treat the woman’s stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Transvaginal mesh products are designed to provide support to weakened pelvic walls. But the lawsuit alleges that the mesh device was defective and its flawed design caused the plaintiff serious, and possibly permanent, injuries. The suit further alleges that the defendant knew about the dangers of its product but did not adequately warn consumers.

In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) noted a number of complications associated with transvaginal mesh implants, including mesh erosion through the vagina (also called exposure, extrusion, or protrusion); pain; infection; bleeding; pain during sexual intercourse; organ perforation; and urinary problems. The FDA also noted that complications linked to transvaginal mesh implants are “not rare” and warned that use of such devices may actually be more harmful than alternative methods for treating pelvic organ prolapse.

Thousands of transvaginal mesh lawsuits have been formulated into six MDLs pending in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. The California woman’s suit was filed on her behalf by Parker Waichman LLP on July 10, 2013, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (Case No. 2:13-cv-18831) in the multidistrict litigation In Re: Boston Scientific Corp. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2326.