Surgical Procedures Gone Wrong: Personal Injury Cases For Complications Arising With Implanting Transvaginal Mesh
Made from a type of plastic known as polypropylene, a transvaginal mesh involves the implantation of a mesh-lined device through the vagina in order to permanently correct pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). These medical conditions typically arise after a women experiences a hysterectomy, menopause or childbirth. The success rate for this surgical procedure has been noted to be over 90%. Regardless, many complications have arisen in the past. If you're a victim of complications surrounding the implantation of transvaginal meshes, speak with a personal injury attorney immediately to determine whether you are eligible to receive any compensation.
Complications That Arise From Transvaginal Mesh Implantation
A transvaginal mesh implantation involves making a small incision in the vaginal wall and implanting the artificial mesh into compartments that are found in the pelvis. Although the mesh is originally held in place with sutures, tissue cells will grow over time through the pores found in the mesh, and will create a hammock type of support system that will restore normal anatomy and function. Many women who have opted for the surgical procedure have reported permanent and irreversible complications like:
- vaginal scarring.
- perforation of the bladder and the bowels.
- chronic pain.
- mesh erosion.
- organ damage.
- development of urinary retention.
- dyspareunia or pain during sexual intercourse.
- urinary infections and additional related problems.
Even when the transvaginal mesh is removed, these damages may not improve with time. In worst-case scenarios, women who have opted for the transvaginal mesh operation may also require IV therapy, blood transfusions and hermatomas draining.
Seeking Compensation and Determining Who Is Responsible
If you have incurred permanent damages as a result of opting for a transvaginal mesh operation, speak with an experienced personal injury attorney in order to determine who should be held responsible. The transvaginal mesh may be defective or your urogynecologist may have been negligent during the surgical procedure. Determining who is responsible can be a headache, and is best left for a personal injury attorney.
The personal injury attorney will need to determine whether the design of the transvaginal mesh is defective. If it is, the personal injury case will involve product liability law, as manufacturers and sellers of all products have a duty to ensure that the products that they are selling are safe and will function as claimed. The transvaginal mesh is considered to be defective if its design poses threats to a patient's safety. This could be due to a design error or a manufacturing error. According to court filings, there are over 65,000 transvaginal mesh lawsuits that are currently still pending in several litigations against the manufacturers, and this does not even include lawsuits that are claiming medical negligence.
If the transvaginal mesh is not found to be defective and the complications arose during the surgery, then the personal injury attorney may need to consider whether medical negligence, or malpractice, was at play. To claim that medical negligence is the primary cause, the attorney will need to prove that the doctor was negligent and did not provide services that met the medical standard of care. The attorney also needs to provide definitive evidence that the negligence resulted in the complications that arose.
Conclusion
Complications that have arisen due to transvaginal mesh operations are numerous and the damages that have resulted can easily change your life for the worst. Speak with a personal injury attorney immediately in order to make sure that your situation does not surpass the statute of limitations. Also, keep in mind that there are limitations to the amount of compensation that can be awarded for medical negligence and for product liability. You need to be fully aware of the type of evidence that you will need to build a case, and your chances at successfully being awarded the compensation that you need to deal with the complications that have incurred from the operation.
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