Transvaginal Mesh Financial Repercussions and Recent Settlement

Spokane, WANot only does transvaginal mesh cause financial hardship for many women who had no choice but to take time off work due to severe mesh side effects; some women are collecting disability benefits, and rightly so. “I think that the mesh manufacturers should pay our disability benefits and not insurance companies,” says Jackie. “I also spent a lot of time, frustration and embarrassment explaining to my male insurance rep about vaginal pain and even worse incontinence problems since the mesh surgery.”

At first Jackie was denied long-term disability benefits. Her insurance company decided that she had a pre-existing condition, referring to her pelvic organ prolapse condition. “I wasn’t in pain with the POP; I just had urinary problems and I never needed to take time off work before this TVT sling was implanted,” she explains.

Jackie isn’t thrilled with the latest transvaginal mesh settlement. “This amount of money, which is about $20,000 more than another mesh manufacturer agreed to pay, is like an insult,” says Jackie. “I can’t get all of this mesh removed, and believe me, I have tried. I can’t go back to work until it is all taken out of me, or until the pain ends, whatever comes first.”

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Her short-term disability benefits just rolled into long-term and she has no idea when she can return to work. Jackie worked in retail - she was on her feet most of the day. Even with painkillers, she can’t stand, let alone walk, for more than a few hours. “I finally found a doctor to remove the mesh but he didn’t get it all out. Apparently he was only able to take out the bottom part of the sling so I have to go back for yet another surgery - hopefully the last.”

Transvaginal mesh settlement

C.R. Bard is the most recent of many transvaginal mesh settlements. The company agreed to pay more than $200 million to settle 3,000 cases by women injured by its Bard Avaulta mesh product. Experts predict that most women will take the money, which works out to about $67,000 per case, rather than wait for a trial date. Of about 2,800 jury verdicts to date, some have reached up to nine-figures. Bard has no doubt done its math and looked into its crystal ball: it is better to settle now than to pay a few thousand verdicts that could mean millions of dollars more. According to Bloomberg, this settlement only involves about one-fifth of the outstanding lawsuits related to the transvaginal mesh.