Materials used to manufacture various medical devices in the United States often derive from other countries. Imported materials are the central subject in a recent controversy regarding allegedly defective products that have been claimed to be toxic by women who have reportedly suffered after using them. Women in Hawaii and across the nation will want to keep abreast of the class action lawsuit involving vaginal mesh implants.
Vaginal mesh implants are often used to help women combat organ prolapse or urinary incontinence. Reportedly, the health of thousands of women has been placed at risk because of tainted materials supposedly imported from China that were used to manufacture mesh products in the United States. Among complaints listed in the class-action lawsuit are those involving vaginal bleeding, infections and other health problems, including miscarriages.
Boston Scientific is the medical device manufacturing company accused of conspiring with counterfeiters in China to obtain substandard resin materials (unavailable to them in the United States after losing their supplier) in order to produce its plastic vaginal mesh products. The lawsuit claims that the company knowingly sold a toxic product, thus placing thousands of women’s lives at risk. Since 2012, approximately 55,000 women in the United States per year have had vaginal meshes manufactured by Boston Scientific implanted in their bodies.
The manufacturing company has denied the allegations against it. In 2015, however, the company reportedly paid $119 million in settlements regarding similar lawsuits associated with vaginal mesh products. The Federal Drug Administration has recently attempted to prevent further defective products issues involving the implants by strengthening the safety requirements for the production of the devices. If a woman in Hawaii believes that she has been injured through the use of a faulty medical device, she may contact an attorney for guidance in the matter if she wishes to consider filing a legal claim in court.
Source: moneytalksnews.com, “Lawsuit: Use of Tainted Plastic Resulted in Toxic Medical Devices“, Krystal Steinmetz, Jan. 17, 2016