Thousands of women across the U.S. have been filing transvaginal mesh lawsuits against manufacturers of the devices, which are used to treat stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Females have experienced serious complications because of the mesh, including erosion, organ damage and chronic pain, that led to the need for the surgical removal of the product.
Covidien, a Dublin-based company, has two subsidiaries that manufacture tvm devices, and one is named in a federal litigation in West Virginia: C.R. Bard.
A July 2014 Securities and Exchange Commission’s report said that Covidien plans to take $180 million from its profits in the third quarter to pay for the costs linked to these lawsuits, and this decision reportedly came after discussions with women’s lawyers regarding settlements.
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Currently, C.R. Bard is facing more than 9,000 lawsuits in federal court and three bellwether cases that were chosen to be heard before Judge Joseph Goodwin. Donna Cisson was awarded $2 million in actual and punitive damages in one case, the second was settled before it went to trial and the first was dropped by the plaintiff.
Additionally, another 200 lawsuits against C.R. Bard are being prepared for trial for sometime in 2015.
The lawsuits claim that the transvaginal mesh products have design and manufacturing defects, and the makers failed to properly warn women and doctors of this possibly serious risks. The also allege that there was a breach of warranty. fraud, violations of state consumer protection laws and loss of consortium. Vaginal mesh is supposed to be a permanent device, but many women have needed to have it surgically removed because of the severity of the complications.
Currently, American Medical Systems is the only company to have offered a settlement and agreed to pay $830 million to settle about 20,000 lawsuits.
If you have needed to have TVM surgically removed and want to file your own lawsuit, it might be in your best interest to contact an advocate or lawyer who specializes in mass tort cases to give you your best chance of winning.