Panacryl Sutures: My Worst Nightmare

Woodland Hills, CA"I was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer in 2000 and went through radical surgery," says Christine Bledy, 55. "My surgery was very successful and in July 2000 I had a minor surgery but this time Panacryl Sutures were used -- and so began my nightmare."

"The reason my doctor used Panacryl sutures was because this stronger material would help prevent hernia problems," adds Bledy. Instead, over the next few years she suffered horrendous problems and had nowhere to turn, until she found Panacryl lawyer John Toma.

""When I came out of the second surgery, I didn't feel right. My first surgery was freaking hell but this was more troublesome. When I moved a certain way it felt weird and I thought about horror stories of leaving a surgical instrument inside...

In October I got really tender along my incision then it burst open and started bleeding. My doctor poked around and was very concerned. He packed it with a cotton material and instructed me how to do the same; I had to clean these long worm holes with long wooden Q-tips. You have no idea how torturous this was and it went on for almost 18 months! I would pack one hole and it would get infected, then another hole would pop up.

At one point I had seven holes running from my pubic bone up to my breast bone. Imagine the hem of your skirt: take a loop and pull it as far as you can then cut it -- we would cut and pack it then one hole would close up but another would pop up. It would bleed and it would be packed again. At one point my doctor told me the sutures were Panacryl -- we saved them all in a jar.

Just imagine this: I am going through the battle of my life -- fighting ovarian cancer. I go into remission and start to grow my hair. But instead of focusing on getting my health back, I am dealing with these sutures, this horrific nightmare. Dr. Freedman [my doctor] said that he would never use Panacryl sutures again.

On one visit to the doctor, we pulled out a whole lot of knots. I thought great, that must be the end of it.

But it wasn't. In May, the cancer came back. I spent all my remission being tormented by Panacryl sutures and I can't help but think the outcome would have been different if not for these supposed "absorbable" sutures.

When you have a re-occurrence with ovarian cancer, you're pretty much going to die of this disease. I was devastated. I didn't think I was going to survive...

And I was so angry. In the beginning of 2001 when this all started, I called Ethicon, the makers of Panacryl sutures. I explained my situation and someone told me that there were no problems with Panacryl. He suggested that my doctor wasn't trained in suturing techniques. But my doctor was a gynecologic oncologist and one of the top surgeons in the country!

At that time I had to find a way to concentrate on healing and decided to let it go -- I thought that maybe it was just me and that I had no recourse.

Since then I have gone through many lifestyle changes and miraculously, I am still here. I wrote a story about my illness and Panacryl is a big part of it. I asked my surgeon why he chose this product and that is when he told me they took Panacryl off the market. Ethicon lied to me and that is when I found John Toma, the Panacryl lawyer.

After my first talk with John Toma I cried my eyes out. I was so relieved that someone finally believed me and that's when I knew that something could be done. I thought he was going to tell me that the statute of limitations was up or that I would have to file malpractice against my surgeon. Instead he actually told me about others who had the same alleged problem -- it was a relief that I wasn't the only person out there!

He took time to talk to me and was genuinely concerned. Now I have hope. He gave me the comfort of knowing that someone is out there fighting for me. In return, I want this story known so that it might help others. And I hope I can help in the fight against Ethicon."