Vaginal Mesh Implants: Questions of Negligence

The problems associated with vaginal mesh implants have been much publicised over the last few months.

In September 2017 a Plaintiff in the United States was awarded a record $57m damages.

She had received a vaginal mesh implant made by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) which was launched without a clinical trial, and then marketed for five years after the company learned that it had a higher failure rate than their two earlier devices.

In this particular case the J&J implant was launched in 2006 and despite the early indications of a high failure rate, it was only withdrawn in 2012 after being used in thousands of operations across the world.

In the UK senior doctors have called for a public inquiry into vaginal mesh surgery amid mounting concerns that a significant proportion of patients have been left with traumatic complications.

Vaginal Mesh implants have been used as a treatment for common complications following childbirth

Vaginal mesh implants were for many years offered by Irish Obstetricians / Gynaecologists as a treatment for common complications following childbirth, such as urinary incontinence – leaks with coughing or sneezing – or pelvic organ prolapse.

Thousands of women in Ireland and worldwide have suffered significant injuries as a result of the surgery to insert these mesh implants.

Most often the post-operative complications include chronic pain, infection, bowel perforation, bladder perforation, erosion of vaginal tissues, difficulty with urination and difficulty / pain engaging in sexual intercourse. Class action law suits are presently underway in Australia and the US, where lawyers claim that patients have been exposed to unacceptable risks; in England, NHS data suggests as many as one in fifteen women later requires full or partial removal of the implant.

Lynch Solicitors has over thirty years’ experience in acting in defective products cases and medical negligence cases. We are closely monitoring these cases as they develop across the world and in the meantime if you require further information about any of the issues raised or if you suspect that you are suffering ongoing complications having received a vaginal mesh implant please contact us.