For a number of years, doctors have used transvaginal mesh products to treat a condition called stress urinary incontinence. This is a medical condition that many women in Northern Georgia and other parts of the country experience in which they will involuntarily urinate while engaging in physical activity or even after a hard sneeze or cough.
In an ideal world, the mesh product offers extra support to a woman’s bladder and urethra, both organs in the urinary tract, in order to prevent the condition. Unfortunately, though, people are discovering that the product has some serious drawbacks that may make it fundamentally unreliable as a treatment.
For instance, a recent jury verdict against the makers of a mesh product referred to as TVT awarded an injured woman and her husband $13.5 million in damages. An appellate court recently upheld the verdict.
Although this verdict issued from a jury in another state, it was interesting to note that the trial judge indicated that the TVT product had a relatively high rate of failure, being successful only in about 2 out of 3 cases. The judge also noted that the company directly responsible for manufacturing the product reported the success rate at 90%, that is, in 9 out of 10 cases.
Furthermore, the judge found that the manufacturer was well aware the product could cause sexual dysfunction as well as pain. Nevertheless, the manufacturer continued to market the product to doctors and others as a very safe product with only the rare bad outcome.
As this blog has reported on previous occasions, lawsuits related to vaginal mesh continue throughout the country. Those who have experienced complications from this product should consider whether they have a viable medical product liability claim.