We fight for women victimized by unsafe transvaginal mesh products.
Around 40 percent of all women experience some form of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in their lives. POP occurs when the pelvic floor tissues holding up the uterus, bladder and bowel become weakened or stretched, usually from pregnancy and childbirth. Without enough support, those organs descend from their normal position and bulge into the vagina. Weakened pelvic muscles also cause up to 35 percent of all women to suffer with stress urinary incontinence (SUI), in which they lose bladder control while laughing, coughing, or lifting something heavy.
Until recently, the surgeries to correct POP and SUI were complicated procedures performed by highly trained and specialized surgeons. That changed ten or so years ago when medical device makers began to market and sell the same mesh patches used for hernia repair for the treatment of POP and SUI as well. Inserting a piece of pre-packaged surgical mesh through the vagina and stitching it into place with the enclosed needle or fastening system is faster, cheaper and requires less skill than the traditional painstaking surgical methods. In 2010 alone, around 75,000 women underwent POP repair surgery in which surgical mesh was inserted transvaginally, while surgeons used the traditional method for only 25,000 women in the same year. Even more women were treated for SUI with a bladder sling made from surgical mesh inserted transvaginally.
