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The U.S. Federal Drug Administration reclassified pelvic mesh used to treat pelvic prolapse from moderate-risk category to high-risk category earlier this year. However, pelvic mesh is also used to treat urinary incontinence in women. Several Canadian women are reporting painful infections due to having mesh implanted.
Just as some U.S. States are suing a major manufacturer of pelvic mesh, Canadian women are coming forward with similar stories of chronic infections due to the implantation of the mesh devices. These join thousands of similar lawsuits being filed around the world.
40-year-old Chrissy Brajcic of Windsor, Ontario, Canada says that she lays in bed all day “in agony” due to the symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and pain that she is still experiencing more than a year after the removal of her polypropelene mesh implant.
Brajcic’s doctors had recommended the implant to stop incontinence she experienced after childbirth. Brajcic reported feeling like she had “barbed wire” in her abdomen. The pain, she says, was so severe, she was unable to continue in her career as an interior decorator. She even had trouble walking.
Brajcic had her mesh removed in February of 2015. Still, the pain continued intractable urinary tract infections began. Despite trying a growing list of antibiotics, the infections are not responding.
Brajcic’s goal is to have all mesh removed from the market until further research is done.
The U.S. FDA reclassified mesh used to treat pelvic organ prolapse. However, it did not reclassify mesh used to treat urinary incontinence.
Dr. Blayne Welk, an urologist and assistant professor of surgery at Western University of London, performs mesh removals several times a month at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. He has conducted studies that show the number of women who have the mesh removed due to complications is about 5%.
Other studies put this number at about thirty percent.
Dr. Welk said that the recurrent bladder and kidney infections in women is a “fairly small group.” He does not believe that mesh should be removed from the market.
Doctors are working to figure out why a small population of women, like Bracjic, are experiencing these infections.
If you have experienced injury or painful side effects from the implantation of pelvic mesh, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the “Strong Arm” attorneys at John Foy & Associates. We may be able to help you get the compensation you deserve. Contact us today.
