“Avaulta Transvaginal Mesh Caused a Downward Spiral”

Jacksonville, FLCarol has been suffering complications from Bard’s Avaulta transvaginal mesh since 2005, during which four months of that time she wound up in the Mayo Clinic. She is hopeful that surgery tomorrow will remove the Avaulta mesh, allow her body to heal and pull her out of this “downward spiral.”

“I have been sick with one complication or another for the past seven years,” says Carol (not her real name pending the upcoming transvaginal mesh lawsuits). (More about the Bard TVM lawsuits below.)

Carol, age 61, developed a cyst on her pancreas, one serious complication that she believes is TVM related. And she has suffered a litany of infections. She says that her health has been severely compromised ever since the Avaulta mesh was implanted to treat Pelvic Organ Prolapse, or POP.

“I had so much scar tissue they couldn’t even see my pancreas - I was in hospital for four months - the Mayo Clinic saved my life,” says Carol. “During this time I had three drains coming from my abdomen because I was in toxic shock from the infection, again which I believe was caused by the mesh. I was swollen like I was pregnant, from under my bra down to the bottom of my abdomen.

“Now I am getting ready to go into surgery tomorrow to have the mesh removed - I am on antibiotics right now. I keep getting infections in my bladder and I think the mesh has torn through and into my vagina. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic said that I had several infections, including the water cyst. So far no doctor has blamed it on the mesh but I finally saw a uro/gynecologist specialist and he explained that this mesh has affected other organs; it started in my bladder and moved to my pancreas. It has been a chain reaction. This transvag mesh is something that never goes away - antibiotics certainly won’t take it away; I just pray that this specialist can take it away.

“I have reached the point where I have no quality of life and I am just about incapacitated. I’ve had zero sex life with my husband; all I can do is go to doctor appointments and barely make it to the grocery store. I can’t do a lot of walking because it feels like my vagina is going to fall out. And I’ve been feeling this way for all these years, off and on. When you have a pancreatic attack, it hurts but it won’t kill you. But when this mesh moved from one organ to another, I knew what pain was - the paramedics can vouch for that because I was screaming my head off in the ambulance, on the way to the hospital.

“I told my urologist that I filed a complaint against Bard, the maker of this Avaulta mesh, but he said we can’t be sure the mesh has caused all these pancreatic problems until they go in and take a look. (I know that I have Bard Avaulta mesh because I asked the hospital to send my doctor and my attorney my medical reports; I also have the serial number.)

“I didn’t know how dangerous this mesh is until it hits you, then I was down the tubes, literally. Imagine being in the hospital for four months with tubes coming out of you. I’ve had a really hard time with this mesh: you can develop all kinds of complications that you aren’t even aware of. The possibilities are scary.”

Carol will be talking to this reporter after she recovers from surgery. Meanwhile, four Avaulta mesh lawsuits have been selected for the litigation’s first bellwether trials, according to a Court Order issued in March 2013. The first bellwether vaginal mesh lawsuit trial is scheduled for June 11, 2013, and attorneys are hopeful that it will provide insight into how juries will determine future claims in similar transvaginal mesh lawsuits. (In re: C.R. Bard, Inc., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2187.)