Canadian Women Speak Up about Vaginal Mesh Side Effects
Canadian Women Speak Up about Vaginal Mesh Side Effects
Three women from Saskatchewan, Canada, have created a new website aimed at raising awareness about the severe side effects and problems associated with transvaginal mesh implants. According to a report in CKOM.com, Marika English and Stephanie Brad are among those who started the website because they say they did not want other women to go through with vaginal mesh implant surgery without knowing all the “real risks.”
Brad and English speak frompersonal experience of course. Brad says she received a vaginal mesh implant to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Brad now says she suffers from excruciating pain.
She has also found since the launch of her web site that she is not alone. A number of women have called and emailed her saying that they did not even realize until they read information on her website that it was the mesh that was causing their problems.
Severe Side Effects
English says she paid $30,000 to get her mesh removed by a doctor in California. She said the mesh device affected her entire life. She could not sit or even drive a car and said she was forced to take painkillers just so she could attend her son’s wedding. She says she is frustrated that some doctors are still performing the surgery despite the Canadian health ministry’s advisory about the risks. Another recent article on CTV.com talked about a woman who was raising money to travel to California to get the mesh removed.
Justice for Victims
I commend these women who have taken this step to educate others about the vaginal mesh side effects, despite living in pain themselves. Thousands of lawsuits relating to vaginal mesh implants made by companies such as Johnson & Johnson and C. R. Bard have been filed in U.S. courts. The first vaginal mesh case heard in New Jersey last month resulted in compensatory and punitive damages for the victim. Thousands of other lawsuits are awaiting trial.
As a personal injury lawyer representing several women who are suffering the side effects of vaginal mesh surgery, I have heard first-hand the pain these women suffer and the manner in which these their lives have been changed for the worse. Many victims say they cannot sit or lie down. Their sex life is non-existent. They cannot work or earn a livelihood because they are living in constant pain. These victims deserve justice – regardless of their residence or nationality.
