Surgeons are to Blame, Not Transvaginal Mesh
Read on its own, the FDA’s report on transvaginal mesh used in pelvic organ prolapse surgery makes a reader assume the product is soon to be recalled. However, many medical professionals say that each individual surgeon’s relative skill and experience level have far more to do with whether the surgery will be successful. Overall, the serious health problems women have encountered after pelvic organ prolapse surgery may be more suggestive of a failure of surgeons and the medical field than of a specific product. The FDA report did one good thing – it shed light on the tendency of pelvic organ prolapse surgery to fail, and has stoked the fires of controversy. In the past, patient reports related to pelvic organ prolapse repair surgery failure were less common – perhaps because of the very private nature of the problems that can result. Now, as women see how many others have suffered similar humiliation, pain and suffering, they’ll likely come forward to tell their own stories. Manufacturers of transvaginal surgical mesh have started to face vaginal mesh attorneys representing patients who believe they’ve been harmed by the product.
Pelvic organ prolapse is a circumstance that can happen to women after childbirth, after hysterectomy, or during menopause. In simple terms, the condition occurs when the pelvic muscles become damaged or stretched and can no longer support one or more pelvic organs. The organs then prolapse, or sag, into the vaginal cavity – and can even push out of the vagina Prolapse occurs to varying degrees, and up to half of all women will experience the condition in their lifetime. The circumstance can affect normal urinary and sexual functions. Very severe cases of pelvic organ prolapse require surgical repair. It is the use of a pelvic sling made of surgical mesh that has become the focus of vaginal mesh lawyers and their clients. The 2010 FDA safety alert on this subject blames transvaginal mesh for a wide range of serious and potentially permanent health problems.
Experienced urogynecologic surgeons say that, in many cases, the skill and judgment of the surgeon is the deciding factor in whether a pelvic organ prolapse surgery will succeed or fail. One might suppose that a surgeon who prefers to use a pre-package prolapse repair kit has less confidence in their surgical skills or ability to devise a solution specific to the problem at hand. The FDA concluded that in many cases, regular stitches are safer than vaginal mesh; this may be because surgeons who are more competent and confident are more likely to trust their skills to make the repair as they see fit, rather than relying on a product developed by a medical device company. In any case, many medical professionals believe that transvaginal surgical mesh is only a part of the problem, and that a surgeon’s abilities will ultimately decide the outcome of a pelvic organ prolapse repair procedure. For now, vaginal mesh lawyers have turned their sights on companies such as Johnson & Johnson, who manufacture and market prolapse repair kits. Medical professionals and patients alike await more information from the FDA this fall after it receives recommendations from a committee on the topic.