by Deborah Knapp / KENS 5
@DeborahKnappTV5
Posted on May 1, 2014 at 9:52 PM
SAN ANTONIO -- More than 20 million women in the
United States have urinary incontinence. Yet, the topic is often taboo.
A device that was supposed to
help the condition is now at the center of thousands of lawsuits from women who
say it's ruined their lives.
Jennifer Ramirez is one of those
women who says she is in constant pain after receiving a mesh implant that was
supposed to cure incontinence.
In Ramirez's case, she didn't
even have a serious condition, it was used to prevent it from developing
further.
"I have pelvic pain, constant
pelvic pain," said Ramirez.
Life is also painful for
64-year-old Linda Batiste.
The condition that brings both
women to tears is embarrassing to discuss.
"It actually does feel like
a scouring pad in your body. You can feel in your women parts, what it
is. It's there," said Batiste.
That feeling comes from a product
left inside her body to fix urinary incontinence.
In thousands of cases, including
Batiste and Ramirez, doctors use a pliable, gauze-like mesh sling to support
the bladder and other organs.
But, what the women got was not
relief.
"I have never been
pain-free, since then," said Batiste.
After the birth of her third
child, Ramirez underwent a hysterectomy and then got the mesh sling.
"I had it as a precautionary
when I had my hysterectomy because I had some stress incontinence from coughing
or sneezing or jumping on a trampoline," said Ramirez.
The pain forced her to have the
device removed just months later.
"Now my life has to revolve
around having a restroom right there because when you have to go you have to go
or you will have an accident. It's embarrassing and depressing," said
Ramirez.
Other complications from mesh
implants develop when it becomes embedded in organs and it can make sexual
intimacy painful.
"The polypropylene mesh, it
degrades, it disintegrates, it extrudes, it frays, it ropes and it has particle
loss. And all of those problems cause other problems. like scarring,
chronic pain, for example," said Tim Goss who represented Batiste in a
product liability case against the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon.
Surgical mesh is a synthetic
material.
It's manufactured by several
companies and routinely used for urinary incontinence, pelvic prolapse and
hernia operations.
The American Urogynecologic
Society said it's "safe, effective, and has improved the quality of life
for millions."
The FDA first issued a
"Public Health Notification" in 2008, saying it had received
"over 1,000" reports of "adverse events" "for surgical
mesh devices"
In 2011, The FDA sent out another
warning, saying "serious complications associated with surgical mesh"
"are not rare." and that mesh "may expose patients to
greater risk" than traditional procedures.
Since then, women across the
country have formed organizations and online support groups, trying to get mesh
removed from the market.
Linda Batiste just won a $1.2
million verdict against the maker of her mesh in the first case of its kind in
the nation to go before a jury.
"It's significant because
there are almost 100,000 other cases pending around the country regarding this
type of product," said Goss.
Goss, who represents 9,000 mesh
cases himself including Jennifer Ramirez's, says the lawsuits have the
potential to become the largest mass-tort in history, bigger - even - than the
phen-fen diet drug mess.
Linda Batiste has had several
surgeries to try to removed the mesh, which is embedded in her tissue.
And, her original problem of
incontinence is back.
"And it's compounded the
pain that I normally would have had. I never wish for any other woman to
feel this way or to have it happen to them, " said Batiste.
Tuesday, the FDA announced it
wants stricter safety rules for the mesh implants.
It is proposing labeling the
female incontinence device as "high risk" after years of
reports of pain among women who have received the implants.
Right now there are more than
100,000 cases in the U.S. pending against the makers of the mesh.
The attorney we spoke to said
since the mesh implants are still being used, he expects that number to
increase.
No comments:
Post a Comment