New Update on Alleged Transvaginal Mesh Complications Lawsuits: First Federal Trial Involving Allegations of Serious Side Effects from C.R. Bard Mesh Scheduled to Begin
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) July 28, 2013 -- http://www.resource4thepeople.com/defectivemedicaldevices/transvaginal-mesh-lawsuit.html
In its latest update to consumers about consolidated transvaginal mesh failure lawsuits, Resource4thePeople reports today that the first federal trial* alleging serious health problems from C.R. Bard Inc. mesh is scheduled to begin this week, according to the court file.
The case was filed by a Georgia nurse who is seeking compensation over claims that a Bard Avaulta Plus mesh implant she had in 2009 was defective and caused her to suffer serious health problems, including several corrective surgeries, according to the court file.
The trial will be held in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of West Virginia, where thousands of federal lawsuits from across the country involving several manufacturers of transvaginal mesh have been consolidated under a U.S. District Court judge.
"This is an important case because C.R. Bard alone is facing over 4,000 lawsuits claiming that its transvaginal mesh products were defective and caused women to suffer serious injuries, according to the court file," said Resource4thePeople.
"We will continue to update this litigation and in the meantime our national team of lawyers also will continue to offer free consultations to other women who may be seeking information about legal options they have to seek compensation over similar allegations."
As the nurse's trial approached, evidence surfaced in unsealed documents that Bard was warned that plastic used in some of its Davol Unit's transvaginal mesh products was not suitable for implantation in humans, according to the court file in the case.*
Bloomberg News provided this report** about the unsealed documents in a June 26, 2013 posting:
“Managers at Bard’s Davol unit used a resin-based plastic made by a Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. unit to produce hernia-repair mesh after the material’s supplier officially registered a warning that it shouldn’t be permanently implanted in people, according to e-mails and documents in a lawsuit over Bard’s implants. Plaintiffs suing Bard contend the same mesh was used in some of Davol’s vaginal-mesh products.”
Resource4thePeople is encouraged that such information has surfaced and will be aired at the trial, which has been designated a "bellwether case" in which attorneys for both sides will test the strengths and weaknesses of their cases.
"This will have an effect on the rest of the cases that are pending in this massive multidistrict litigation involving serious claims about defective products that allegedly seriously harmed many women," said Resource4thPeople.
The cases have been consolidated under U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, who is presiding over federal lawsuits from across the country involving similar allegations about transvaginal mesh products.
Resource4thePeople also is providing consumers this outline of the remaining transvaginal mesh litigations that have been consolidated and remain under the jurisdiction of the judge:
• In re: American Medical Systems, Inc., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation (MDL-2325)
• In re: Boston Scientific Corp., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation (MDL-2326)
• In re: C. R. Bard, Inc. Pelvic System Products Liability Litigation (MDL-2187)
• In re: Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation (MDL-2327)
The lawsuits involve allegations that mesh products that were implanted in women’s bodies to treat pelvic organ prolapse or incontinence failed and caused them to suffer serious side effects, including infections, organ damage, vaginal pain and other health problems, according to the court files.
There is also a multidistrict litigation involving transvaginal mesh, in New Jersey, where which Bloomberg News reported on Feb. 28, 2013*** that a jury awarded over $11 million in compensatory and punitive damages to a South Dakota woman.
The South Dakota woman's lawsuit**** over a Johnson & Johnson Gynecare Prolift was the first to go to trial from among 2,100 transvaginal state court mesh lawsuits consolidated in New Jersey.
In the West Virginia litigation involving CR Bard, Bloomberg also reported in its June 26, 2013 posting that in 2004 and 2007 e-mails a Davol executive warned colleagues not to tell Chevron Phillips or other resin makers that the company was using the material in medical devices placed in humans, according to the unsealed court file.
“Suppliers such as Chevron Phillips ‘will likely not be interested in a medical application due to product-liability concerns,’ Roger Darois, the Davol executive, now a Bard vice president, said in a March 2004 e-mail,” Bloomberg reported from the court file. “’It is likely they do not know of our implant application. Please do not mention Davol’s name in any discussion with these manufacturers.’”
Bloomberg reported that “lawyers for thousands of women who blame Bard’s Avaulta line of implants for their injuries said the files show Davol officials knew the resin-based mesh wasn’t proper for human implantation and tried to cover up their use of the material."
Transvaginal mesh side effects were detailed by a Food and Drug Administration warning of “serious complications associated with transvaginal placement of surgical mesh for pelvic organ prolapse."*****
In the warning issued to health care professionals, the FDA cited recent medical literature which revealed that:
Mesh used in transvaginal POP repair introduces risks not present in traditional non-mesh surgery for POP repair.
Mesh placed abdominally for POP repair appears to result in lower rates of mesh complications compared to transvaginal POP surgery with mesh.
There is no evidence that transvaginal repair to support the top of the vagina (apical repair) or the back wall of the vagina (posterior repair) with mesh provides any added benefit compared to traditional surgery without mesh.
Sources:
Cisson v. C.R. Bard Inc., 2:11-cv-00195, U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia (Charleston)
**http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-26/bard-used-mesh-plastic-found-unfit-for-humans-by-supplier.html
*** http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-28/j-j-owes-7-76-million-in-punitives-in-vaginal-mesh-case.html
****Gross v. Gynecare Inc., Atl-L-6966-10, Superior Court of Atlantic County, New Jersey (Atlantic City)
*****http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/ucm262435
Bill Callahan, iLawSuit, 858 602-2749, [email protected]
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