FREE CASE EVALUATION: 1-800-632-1404
Tens of thousands of women receive a transvaginal mesh (TVM) device each and every year from numerous suppliers: American Medical Systems, Bard, Boston Scientific, Ethicon,Gynecare, and Johnson & Johnson. Thousands of women have been injured through no fault of their own, including vaginal erosion, pain, urinary problems, bleeding, infection and more. Our attorneys are representing women in all fifty states and Canada who have been injured. For a free case evaluation, call 1-800-632-1404.
What is Stress Urinary Incontinence?
Stress urinary incontinence is a condition in which there is involuntary leakage of urine associated with physical activity such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, exercising, and changing positions. In some instances, the condition is so severe that even standing or walking may precipitate the urinary loss. Stress incontinence is due to a weakness of the urinary sphincter.
Many people believe that stress incontinence is a consequence of childbirth. Although childbirth is surely an aggravating factor, stress incontinence is due to multiple factors, not just childbirth. Stress urinary incontinence involves the leakage of small amounts of urine when pressure inside the abdomen increases. The leakage is related to congenital or acquired incompetence of the urinary sphincter. The acquired urethral deficiency may be related to surgical damage, trauma, radiation therapy, or a sacral cord lesion. In women it is commonly associated with postmenopausal tissue changes and previous child bearing, in combination with the wear and tear of living and the years of the general pull of gravity. Laughing, coughing, and sneezing, all of which increase intraabdominal pressure, are often precipitating factors in stress incontinence. Continuous leakage, even during resting or with minimal exertion, can occur in more severe cases
Although over 125 operations have been designed to treat stress incontinence, they fall into six general categories. All of the operations are based on the same common principles: (1) to restore the support of the bladder and urethra so that they don’t fall down again and (2) to provide a kind of backboard against which the urethra is compressed during stress.
There are three kinds of medicines that have been prescribed for stress incontinence — alpha-adrenergic agonists, tricyclic antidepressants, and estrogen. All of these medications are prescribed because, theoretically at least, they may help to keep the sphincter closed. The sphincter is composed of, in part, a nearly circular smooth muscle that is supposed to stay closed until it is time to urinate. This sphincteric muscle is located in the bladder neck and proximal urethra (the part closest to the bladder). The chemical messengers that signal the muscle to stay closed belong to a class of neurotransmitters called alpha-adrenergic (ad-rin-urge-ic) agonists. Alpha-adrenergic agonists are medications that mimic the effects of these chemical messengers and tell the sphincter to stay closed. Various medications are available that produce alpha-adrenergic stimulation. Potential side effects of all of these medications include high blood pressure, rapid and/or irregular heartbeat (cardiac arrhythmias), anxiety, and difficulty sleeping (insomnia). That means that these medications should be used with extreme caution (or not at all) in patients with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or hyperthyroidism.
Of course, the use of Transvaginal Slings is becoming commonplace in the treatment of SUI.
Our team of attorneys is reviewing case evaluations for women across the country who have received TVM and TVT products from manufactures such as C.R. Bard, Avaulta, Boston Scientific, and Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon.
If you need help from a transvaginal mesh device injury, call us today for help.
The Problem
In 2008, the FDA first released concerns about the safety of transvaginal placement of mesh. From 2008 to 2010, the FDA received three to five times as many adverse reports associated with mesh used for pelvic organ prolapse repair than what agency received from 2005 to 2007 (nearly 1,000 reports of adverse events were received from 2005-2007).
Many of these patients complain because of erosion or contraction of the mesh material (which has been described as being of a similar material as Rubbermaid storage containers). The erosion leads to bleeding, severe pelvic pain, painful (or impossible) sexual performance and a recurrence of urinary problems.
In July 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an update related to what it called ‘serious complications’ related to the use of vaginal mesh for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). It is now known that complications linked to transvaginal placement of surgical mesh in SUI and POP patients are not rare and can require multiple surgeries to correct problems related to the use of surgical mesh. In fact, the FDA now says that additional surgeries may actually not be able to repair damage caused by implantation of the mesh.
In other words, the side effects of the mesh placement may be permanent. These complications from transvaginal placement of surgical mesh include:
- -Erosion of the implanted mesh
- -Infection and/or bleeding
- -Pain, including pain during sexual intercourse
- -Problems with organs near the implantation site
Helping You
You may have experienced mesh erosion, bleeding, urinary infections, vaginal scarring, pain during sexual intercourse, failure to conduct sexual intercourse and more. A physician may have tried to remove the mesh and been unable to do so. You may be in excruciating pain, and need help. We are offering free case evaluations to the general public across the United States and Canada. Manufacturers we consider include American Medical Systems, Bard, Boston Scientific, Ethicon,Gynecare, and Johnson & Johnson.
If you received a transvaginal mesh / sling and have been injured, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Problems include pain, inability to have intercourse,bleeding, mesh growth into the body, mesh erosion, and more. Problems could be irreversible. Please fill out the form to the right or call us so that we can provide you with forms to evaluate your potential case immediately.
We are accepting case evaluations nationwide and in Canada, as well. Please do not hesitate or delay in contacating TVM / TVT Sling and transvaginal mesh attorneys :
CALL: 1-800-632-1404
EMAIL: clicking here
FILL OUT THIS FORM FOR A FREE CONSULTATION AND CASE EVALUATION:
NOTE: Our team of attorneys will review potential cases for all fifty states, including Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin and Wyoming.