Trans Vaginal Mesh / Bladder Sling Injuries

One of the most frustrating things our potential clients tells us is that they do not know what type of device has been implanted. To complicate matters even more, there are about 11 manufacturers of these Vaginal Mesh devices in the United States and also each company has several models and types of vaginal mesh product.

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Invariably these women have had redo surgeries with more hardware implanted but they are still symptomatic and experiencing side effects. To make things easier for these potential Trans Vaginal Mesh victims, I have listed here a list of the 5 largest manufacturers and the commonly used mesh devices and the types of product that may have been implicated as being defective or those that have been recalled.

Hopefully this blog will provide a "one stop shop" that folks can review and refer to in their search for vital information and to see if they may have a claim.

In the United States, data from mesh manufacturers reveal that in 2010 approximately 300,000 women underwent surgical procedures to repair Pelvic Organ Prolapse, POP and approximately 260,000 underwent surgical procedures to repair Stress Urinary Incontinence, SUI.

According to mesh manufacturers, approximately one out of three POP surgeries used mesh and three out of four of the mesh POP procedures were done transvaginally. Over 80 percent were done transvaginally with mesh.

Transvaginal Mesh Brands – Johnson & Johnson Ethicon Women’s Health
Several hundred lawsuits are pending in New Jersey state court against Ethicon for injuries allegedly caused by several transvaginal mesh products. Lawsuits claim that Johnson & Johnson knew that Ethicon TVT products were unreasonably dangerous but continued to manufacture and sell them regardless.

Brand names of Johnson & Johnson/Ethicon’s transvaginal mesh patches include:

Ethicon TVT
Gynecare TVT Sling
Gynecare Gynemesh
Gynecare Prolift Mesh
Gynecare Prolene Mesh
Prolene Polypropylene Mesh Patch
Secur

TVT = tension-free vaginal tape

Transvaginal Mesh Brands – C.R. Bard
These cases are consolidated as part of the federal Bard Avaulta litigation, which was centralized last year in West Virginia for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

In October 2010, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict litigation ordered that all federal Bard Avaulta pelvic mesh lawsuits be consolidated before U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation.

Brand names of Bard’s transvaginal mesh patches:

Avaulta Plus™
BioSynthetic Support System
Avaulta Solo™
Synthetic Support System,
Faslata® Allograft
Align
Pelvicol ® Tissue
PelviSoft® Biomesh
Pelvitex™ Polypropylene Mesh
Pelvilace
Uretex
Ugytex

Transvaginal Mesh Brands – American Medical Systems, Boston Scientific
SPARC® is a type of transvaginal mesh patch produced by American Medical Systems (AMS) designed to treat stress incontinence.

In recent months, a growing number women throughout the United States have filed a transvaginal pelvic mesh lawsuit against Boston Scientific and other manufacturers raising similar allegations. The products, which are commonly used for repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) have been found to erode through the vagina, shrink, cause infection, pain and other complications.

Boston Scientific transvaginal mesh patch brands include:

Advantage™ Sling System
Lynx™ Suprapubic Mid-Urethral Sling System
Obtryx® Curved Single
Obtryx® Mesh Sling
Prefyx Mid U™ Mesh Sling System
Prefyx PPS™ System

All these systems use Advantage® Mesh – The Advantage Mesh is designed to reduce the risks of mesh deformation during tensioning and irritation to the anterior vaginal wall.

American Medical Systems SPARC Transvaginal Mesh Implants
Several different companies, including Minnesota based American Medical Systems, manufacture transvaginal mesh product to treat urinary incontinence and other conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse.

The American Medical Systems SPARC Transvaginal Mesh Approach

The SPARC system is a mesh sling that is put under the urethra to support it during normal daily activities. According to American Medical Systems, most patients regain continence almost immediately after surgery. It is marketed as an outpatient, minimally invasive treatment that can have significant and long term benefits for the patient.

American Medical Systems manufactures numerous products, known as pelvic mesh, vaginal mesh, and bladder slings, designed to treat pelvic organ prolapse and/or stress urinary incontinence. These products include: Apogee, Perigee, Elevate, SPARC, MiniArc, MinArc Precise and Monarc.

Please search this blog for other Vaginal Mesh articles, frequent updates and important information.