Articles Posted in Medical Device Recalls

Hernia mesh is a medical device used to repair damaged connective tissue around the hernia. It is implanted during surgery and attached with sutures.

The pores in the mesh allow the damaged tissue to grow into the device, which supports the primary repair of muscle tissue.

However, many side effects are associated with surgical mesh, including infection, erosion through the skin or organ walls, and pain.

Mesh has been used for many decades to treat hernias. This allows doctors to quickly repair hernias. Patients can leave the hospital the same day of the procedure.

However, the problems with surgically implanted hernia mesh can begin weeks or years after the surgery. This is often a decaying piece of synthetic material that is no longer effective as time passes. In a worst-case scenario, it can harm the rest of your body.

Thousands of patients have filed lawsuits for defective hernia mesh devices. The time when you file your mesh lawsuit is critically important to your case.

Hernia mesh has been billed as a quick and easy way to fix a hernia with minimal recovery time and complications. The reality is far different for many patients who have experienced significant side effects and serious complications following hernia repairs.

Many will never be the same again after hernia mesh failure. The makers of hernia mesh are now facing tens of thousands of lawsuits brought by patients who suffered side effects from their hernia mesh implants.

Our lawyers can help you sue the mesh manufacturer for damages that you have suffered.

The history of birth control is unfortunately filled with unfortunate defects that have injured women. Dalkon Shield became one of the largest mass tort lawsuits of all time. IUD insertion had been viewed as an easy way for a reversible form of birth control that did not have the same hormonal effects.

However, intrauterine devices have proven dangerous, as IUD removal work does not always go as planned. A IUD device called Paragard was supposed to change that. However, the IUD removal process has often gone awry, causing women serious injury.

Paragard is made by a company called CooperSurgical Inc. The original manufacturer was Teva Pharmaceutical, but Teva sold the Paragard product line to Cooper for $1.1 billion in 2017. The product has been on the market since 1984.

A CPAP machine is a way of treating obstructive sleep apnea. They are designed to help people breathe and protect them from possible danger when they sleep. It is a way of promoting sleep health. This post will discuss how CPAP machines work to help people with sleep problems.

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Machine

This is what the acronym CPAP stands for. It is meant to treat sleep apnea and help with heavy snoring by using pressurized air.

Women looking for a simple alternative to traditional methods of sterilization have turned to the Essure Permanent Birth Control System, which is marketed and sold by Bayer. The contraceptive device was originally developed by Conceptus Inc. and approved in 2002. Bayer purchased Conceptus and the rights to the Essure System in 2013 and is now under fire for numerous complications that women using the system have suffered. These complications are so severe that the FDA has implemented a black box warning for the devices— which requires patients to sign a waiver stating that they have been notified of the risks associated with the devices prior to use.

How the Essure System Works

The Essure Permanent Birth Control System is a non-hormonal birth control method that prevents pregnancy through sterilization. Two flexible coils are inserted into the fallopian and over time, scar tissue develops around the coils and causes permanent infertility by creating a barrier that prevents eggs from reaching the uterus. The simple outpatient procedure has made the system an attractive alternative to tubal litigation and the devices can be inserted without any need for anesthesia.

3M Bair Hugger manufactures and sells a forced air warming blankets that are used during implant surgeries nationwide. The blanket helps patients who are under anesthesia regulate their body temperature while it prevents hypothermia. Using a surgical hose, the system forces hot air into the disposable blanket draped over the patient’s larger body areas during surgery. The warming blanket has been used by many surgeons during millions of surgical procedures each year as a way to reduce the chance of hypothermia, when the patient loses body heat at a rate faster than it can be produced.

While designed to reduce the potential risks of developing an infection, the device might actually cause an infection by blowing highly contaminated bacteria-laden air from the tainted floor area into the patient’s opened surgical site. The potential risk of developing an infection is especially severe for individuals undergoing artificial heart valve implant surgery or joint replacement surgeries including knee and hip replacements.

The Inventor Speaks Out

Many patients have developed serious life-threatening infections after hip and knee replacement surgeries from using temperature management systems developed and sold by 3M Bair Hugger. Many of these individuals have filed lawsuits against the manufacturer of the device claiming negligence of its potential risks and safety hazards.

These warming devices are used during surgical procedures as a way to regulate body temperature. Currently, more than 50,000 warming systems sold by the device manufacturer are used in nationwide hospitals and have warmed millions of patients since the products were first brought to the medical marketplace.

Many personal injury attorneys, including Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC, have claimed that the forced air warming blankets have design defects that cause a disruption of laminar flow during surgeries in operating rooms nationwide. The defects allow bacteria and other dangerous contaminants to transfer from the floor and enter the patient’s surgical site. The defect increases the potential risks of knee and hip implant patients to develop a life-threatening joint infection after surgery.

Zimmer is the latest manufacturer of hip replacement devices to issue a recall of its products due to the risk of severe complications and health concerns. The M/L Taper Hip Prosthesis with Kinectiv Technology was designed to be a versatile option for use in minimally invasive surgical procedures.

Zimmer’s recall was the result of discovery that the products were linked to unhealthy levels of cobalt in the blood, resulting in metal toxicity and conditions such as metalosis. The recall was one of three Class One recalls mandated by the FDA affecting Zimmer, HeartWare and Maquet Holdings.

Metal Toxicity is a Common Concern for those Receiving Hip Replacements

Power morcellator manufacturers and practitioners performing hysterectomies and other uterine procedures with the devices have come under fire following the discovery of a strong link between power morcellation and the spread of cancerous tissue to the uterus. The son of a woman who died from uterine cancer not long after undergoing a procedure which implemented the use of a power morcellator is seeking damages from multiple parties he alleges failed to warning his mother of the risks associated with the elective procedure and that had she underwent a more traditional procedure, she would still be alive today.

The lawsuit was filed on April 10, 2015 and is being heard by the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Storz Morcellator Cited as Responsible for Spread of Cancer