Treatment Options for Transvaginal Mesh Patients

Future Medical Care for Mesh Patients

Many of the women that my firm represents in Transvaginal Mesh lawsuits have had multiple surgeries for mesh removal and still suffer pain on a daily basis. I have had many tearful meetings with these clients about their future health. As a lawyer, part of my job is to recover compensation for future pain and expenses of these injuries. Part of that work is to consult with medical professionals as to the future prognosis for these women.

Many Doctors Unprepared to Help

Many of the obgyn physicians who implanted these mesh devices are unprepared to treat the complications that are occurring such as erosions through the vaginal walls or into the bladder. Other complications include pain, contraction of the mesh, inflammation, bladder and bowel incontinence, bladder outlet obstruction and chronic infection. The manufacturers of these mesh products offered no help to doctors to treat these complications. The manufacturers tried to pretend that the complications were rare and to blame a woman’s preexisting condition. These manufacturers which include Ethicon, Boston Scientific, American Medical Systems, C.R. Bard, Caldera, and Coloplast just wanted to sell as many mesh products as they could and did not want to mention the complications. In short, the manufacturers cared more about their profits than about helping women with complications so they did not provide information to physicians about treating complications. The manufacturers also spent no time or money to develop treatments for complications. For example, the manufacturers could have easily dyed all mesh blue so that surgeon could remove problem mesh more easily. The white mesh is hard for a surgeon to see when it has been in the body and is encased in scar tissue.

Surgical Treatment for Pelvic Mesh

As a result, many women received no help or little help with their pain and suffering from complications from these mesh products. Frequently, when treatment was offered it consisted of a vaginal clipping of mesh that was extruding into the vagina. Many times this was a temporary fix before the mesh would extrude from a different location in the vagina and and other clipping would be required. I have some clients who have had 6-8 of these clipping procedures and still were not cured. They continue to suffer pain and anxiety about their future. Often they suffer great anxiety about their marriages and relationships with sex partners because of their inability to have sex or pain during sex.

Medical Specialty of Meshology

More recently, there has been emerging a new medical specialty of doctors who focus on treating complications from pelvic mesh complications. The thousands of women suffering from the implantation of these products has created a need for these specialized physicians. There are currently 70,000 lawsuits pending against the manufacturers. Probably most women with these problems have not filed lawsuits. This is a very personal and private issue for women and is known to be highly under reported. It is understandable that many women are suffering in silence.

These specialized meshology doctors approach mesh complications cases as cases of chronic illness. First, these doctors will try to remove as much of the mesh as possible without injuring the nerves. Different mesh products attach to different parts of the anatomy so some types of mesh allow for more removal than others. Further, different types of physical and psychological therapy are an important adjuct to surgery. A holistic whole woman approach is important to treat chronic mesh complications.

The mass marketing of these TVM products by these manufacturers violates the cardinal rule of medicine: First, Do No Harm.

Many of these new meshology doctors are now trying to find ways to remedy this harm that has been done.