Hello 2015! Mesh Makers are You Listening?

Welcome to Mesh News Desk/ Mesh Medical Device News Desk!

As wonderful as the holidays were to enjoy some downtime and relaxation (as relaxed as one can get with a foreign body implanted in one’s pelvic region), it’s time to renew the awareness of pelvic mesh and push the powers that be. Time to get active!

While women are told that mesh settlements are on the horizon, that news has been percolating since June and patience is wearing thin. Mesh News Desk has heard of offers as low as $6,000 for severely mesh-injured women. Women are told not to discuss their offers but many are ready to shout about it with a resounding “No” to a low settlement offer. It appears with American Medical Systems, the value of the company in the dumper and the settlement will bankrupt AMS. Endo acquired AMS and is not bankrupt however – how hard will lawyers be willing to fight for their clients?

On the other side of the coin - those firms who have worked up cases are easily millions in debt over the cost of bringing a case forward and deserve to have their expenses recouped - but at whose expense? Prediction – many women will be looking for new law firms for representation after they reject the initial settlement offer. Stay tuned.

Pelvic Mesh Litigation

January 2015 will see two new trials – one in Springfield area Missouri, a Prolift mesh kit death case, and the other in Bakersfield, CA - a TVT-Abbrevo sling. Your editor will be at the Missouri case offering the only media coverage of the proceedings. This will be the first Prolift case since the Linda Gross trial in early 2013 ($11.1 million).

Let’s hope 2015 brings wisdom and a conscience to the seven mesh manufacturers to right this horrible wrong. The dollar amount spent on one J&J lawyer would fund a roomful of injured women. Let‘s pray the company and its shareholders realize the harm it perpetrates on the public and the insult and injury on women by using its resources to fight them in the courtroom instead of helping them get well. As one women recently said:

“I wish you all the best this next year. I pray that you find help, that you all find help. On xx I go for surgery and although not wanting to die if something goes wrong and I just keep sleeping I would not mind. I am tired and from what I have been told after this surgery things will not be easy for at least a year if —if it helps at all. There’s not even hope of a settlement that has been given to me. But then again money can never replace what I have lost. A life with promise and hope. A life lived loving every minute of the time I spent believing in tomorrow. People don’t understand because they cannot see our deformities and our injuries. I feel devalued by everyone. I long for sleep where I can dream of happier days.”

Mesh News Desk is grateful to mesh removal doctors Miklos and Moore of Atlanta who are sponsoring the first quarter of 2015. The duo is focusing on mesh removals, and like many urogynecologists is evolving their thinking about mesh placements as a first-line defense after seeing the horrific complications among patients.

Mesh News Desk is not intended to substitute for advice from your lawyer or doctor. Please advocate for yourself and collect your medical records including operative reports. Make sure you file your report with the Food and Drug Administration. Some day the agency says it will act.... still waiting! Here's how to file a report.

There is an amazing and growing group of very vocal and smart women who are not suffering in silence anymore!! They are getting their device numbers, filing complaints with the FDA, contacting their legislators, finding doctors and lawyers to address what has happened AND supporting one another!

Mesh News Desk is a news source that has been reporting on mesh injuries since 2011. We are NOT a legal referral service. Your editor, who is not mesh-injured, is a long time journalist who recognizes a story important to the public. See the About Us Page. Honest reporting deserves some compensation and I'm always looking for supporters/ sponsors/ advertisers / donors to keep Mesh News Desk supported since it's become a full-time job. A documentary on this dark chapter in women's health is in the works. You can contact me at janeakre@meshnewsdesk.com. Also visit the Go Fund Me website if you'd like to be part of this effort!! Thank you!!!

Bruiser

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As always, I’m grateful for your feedback and your content contributions and comments! Write me with any comments and concerns and thank you!

Prayers please for our little Brewie- your editorial assistant -who is going in for a liver biopsy on January 2.

Jane Akre, Editor

Mesh News Desk

janeakre@meshnewsdesk.com