Hello July- A Long, Hot Summer of Waiting

Heirloom tomatoes, Florida

Welcome to Mesh Medical Device News Desk, also known as Mesh News Desk (MND).

It is a long hot summer and so far those many bellwether lawsuits the mesh community had been promised are rescheduled or off the schedule entirely. While the heat is good for heirloom tomatoes, not so good for patience.

What is happening?

As many of you know, last month four law firms announced they had reached a settlements with American Medical Systems (Endo Health).

Various tiers of injury were established, indicating that different injuries could expect to receive differing amounts of injury awards. Even so, with 20,000 plaintiffs, the average settlement figure at $40,000 would not even cover one surgery out of state. Most firms have advised women to wait until they receive a letter, that they would be compensated fairly. The women are still waiting. Let's hope that the negotiations have resulted in a fair settlement for each injury.

Of course, no amount of money is a substitute for not being harmed in the first place.

Mesh News Desk has now been publishing news and information about mesh injuries for three years. It is a for-profit business founded by editor, Jane Akre and Independent News Group LLC, a publishing and media company. As such, advertising is welcome to keep the doors opened with the understanding that a firewall exists between advertising and editorial section of the pages.

In the coming months, watch MDN expand to include other medical devices that are also causing injuries. Along with Corporate Action Network, a nonprofit consumer group, we are working together to raise the profile of mesh injuries. There is no other arrangement between the two entities or with any law firms to direct the outcome of the lawsuits or settlements. Your name and personal information is never shared without your express permission to join in a campaign. See the About Us section to explain further.

Attorneys General in 10 states have now received signed letters from Mesh Survivors asking to initiate an investigation into the costs associated with J&J pelvic mesh that taxpayers are picking up. AG's don't like to overpay for drugs or devices that are fraudulently marketed. See Risperdal as a recent example that's been in the news.

Congratulations to Scottish Mesh Survivors who successfully petitioned their Parliament and had Health Secretary Neil stop the use of pelvic mesh in that country! Women from New Zealand are working on petitioning their government at this writing.

Those who write in to comment to Mesh News Desk should understand that their comments are public and can be seen by your counsel and opposing counsel. Please think twice before hitting the send button. No libelous or slanderous statements will be tolerated. Period. Your counsel may want to know you are slandering others. It could hurt the outcome of your case.

Readers should also understand when you file a lawsuit, it becomes public. One can search and find your name, all about your pelvic health and injury as well as your law firm. As you know from middle school civics class, we have open courts in this country and some are even online. PACER is the way to access federal court records at .10 a page. See how here. Many readers enjoy following the cases and have obtained those accounts to access records.

On that topic, it might be advisable to make sure your case has been filed. Obtain your case number and find where it has been filed. Your law firm should be more than willing to accommodate you with that information.

August appears to be the next trial in Charleston, West Virginia for American Medical Systems. (Pattison v. AMS 2:12-cv-7154) but stay tuned, these things change.

It seems to add insult to injury for industry to continue to spend $600 an hour on lawyers to fight the injured women who they could be helping. With 75,000 lawsuits now filed in this country, clearly we have a problem with synthetic pelvic mesh.

That does not even begin to address hernia mesh injuries.

Mesh News Desk will continue to Put a Face on Adverse Events and attempt to raise the profile of mesh injuries. Thanks for stopping by.