Surgical implants may not have been tested for patient safety

According to Consumer Reports, most medical implants including transvaginal mesh for prolapsed repair and bladder support were never tested for safety. What this means is that many patients from New Jersey had no idea that the implants they’re carrying around in their bodies may be dangerous and defective.

Consumer Reports claims that manufacturers of implants often do little other than fill out the paperwork requirements for the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). The number of these types of lawsuits being filed against manufacturers may serve to bolster the Consumer Reports claims.

The FDA has been called upon to overhaul the process for approving such medical implants. According to one physician, “Standards for devices exist, they just don’t make sense.” Claims that such medical devices were not tested before being marketed is certainly cause for concern as the government has no way of locating problems with such devices and patients have no means of knowing the products are defective before they have had such a device implanted.

The pain that patients have experienced when the transvaginal mesh has failed will likely be severe, and such failure can lead to a large number of adverse side effects. Such failure has resulted in the need for further surgical repair, the dangers of severe infection and even death. Since the consequences of such failure are so severe and since recovery from large medical manufacturers is often difficult, patients that feel they have been injured as the result of the implant of such mesh may wish to consult with lawyers experienced in this particular area.

Source: Consumer Reports, “Most medical implants have never been tested for safety,” May 2012