Transobturator slings are 10x more dangerous as it relates to neuromuscular injury compared to retropubic slings.
Judge Goodwin, overseeing 105,000 cases in the pelvic mesh litigation in West Virginia, on June 21, 2018 closed its doors to new cases starting the second wave in litigation that will end the use of synthetic polypropylene transobturator slings.
Transobturator slings, used for stress urinary incontinence (SUI), by their design places the pudendal nerve and obturator nerve in peril to direct trauma during blind placement of the device or overtime as the device shrinks leading to catastrophic pain syndromes including pudendal neuralgia, obturator neuralgia, and/or complex regional pain syndrome. The literature is convincing, and experts have testified that the painful neuromuscular injuries caused by synthetic slings are 10x more common in women with transobturator slings compared to retropubic slings.
The policies underlying product liability law is simple: the use of complex products can cause disastrous consequences to an individual user of the device and it is humane to spread this cost to all the users of the device by way of price increases controlled by the manufacturer. This common sense policy will be applied in the second transvaginal mesh litigation wave and is simple: the economic impact on the injured will be passed to the manufacturer and the cost of compensating injured women from injuries caused by the defective design of the transobturator slings will lead to the discontinuation of the device as it will not be economically feasible to continue to produce the device.
Manufacturers including Endo International, the maker of the Monarc transobturator sling and the MiniArc single incision sling, and Bard, the maker of the Align transobturator sling, have removed their products from the market. They have done this because further production of their transvaginal mesh devices is not economically feasible, and the companies understand that the second wave of litigation will be more costly than the cost of compensating the injured in the West Virginia Multidistrict Litigation as these cases will not be consolidated and there will be no discounts provided by plaintiff lawyers.
Transobturator slings are at the end of the road as the manufacturers of these devices are coming to understand that the cost of litigation for the serious neuromuscular injuries is not a sustainable business plan. Ultimately, the Boston Scientific Obtryx and Solyx sling, the Ethicon TVT-O, and the Coloplast Aris and Altis sling will come off the market as the women suffering with pudendal neuralgia and obturator neuralgia march toward courthouses across the country.
For more information on Neurological Complications of Slings read our Free eBook. For articles, videos, and other valuable resources, visit https://tvm.lifecare123.com/ or our Pudendal Education Portal, https://pudendalportal.lifecare123.com/. We can also be reached at 800-761
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