I’m curious readers - Are you newly diagnosed with a hernia or prolapse, incontinence? Is mesh being suggested as a treatment?
Or are you looking for a lawyer? Trying to monitor your trial docket? Just let me know where you are so I can better address your concerns. Thank you!! ~ jane a.
Nj mcl630 looking for update
I’m in the settlement stage. Everyone trying to get part of the settlement I received.
Pets- Do you care to elaborate? I’d love to hear what the settlement talks are these days. Do you have pelvic or hernia mesh? I will not share, just curious at this time. I’d like to do a chapter on settlements at a later date. If you don’t want to write her… share at jeakre@gmail.com… thank you!
How’s it going? Your settlement talks that is
I’m a pelvic mesh survivor exploring litigation. I’ve started working with KlineSpecter in Philadelphia. I’m just getting started so any suggestions are welcome.
Any attorney recommendations for PA? Any advice?
Welcome Miriammom! Kline Specter is generally good. Kila Baldwin especially. Be sure when you sign your retainer agreement you know what you are signing.
What is the percentage the firm will take? Is it calculated on a tier basis ie the first $100k takes 40 percent, the second is 33.3%…
How do they calculate additional expenses?
Since you are no longer part of the MDL - will there be a 5% common benefit fee?
That is their cost of doing business you might suggest- they should pay it.
Will they negotiate down any medical liens?
Will they keep you updated on a regular basis - specify that up top.
Who is your contact person? Get their phone and email.
this is a contract so like any contract, specify what you want up top!
Anyone else want to chime in- What do you with you had asked for in your contract with the law firm? Good luck.
In the matter of one week I was diagnosed first with the vaginal erosion, then after CT and further testing, found my mesh and bowel and possibly intestine are infected. Original surgeon is of course gone from the hospital. He was one of those that said “it’s not that kind of mesh”.
All doctors that have been involved currently seem to be very shady about it. There is no referral made yet even after current doctor made it clear that this was out of his realm. Tonight I am dead in the water an have no clue which direction to turn next. I am in Ohio looking for a surgeon that will remove a transvaginal mesh that was placed abdominally through a preexisting incision from a past spine surgery. Two days after placement and hysterectomy, I suffered a first ever seizure causing and incisional hernia to which a large mesh patch was used to make the repair resulting in a large “X” scar (think Aliens the movie). Now trying to find a doctor that can get through all of that and make a decent repair sounds like a complete fairy tale. If any one has information on Ohio surgeons or in the neighboring states I would appreciate the help. thank you
Hi Scarllett and Welcome! I’m sorry you hit the lottery here with two meshes! Check out these surgeons from our MND list of knowledgeable docs. These are hernia docs who might also be able to address the infected pelvic mesh. They would be a good place to start, especially since your pelvic mesh was placed abdominally. Had you ever had seizures before or do you believe it was in reaction to autoimmune, allergic, or any kind of reaction to the mesh placement?
Ohio – Dr. David Grischkan, HERNIA DOC, Cleveland, Hernia Center of Ohio, (216) 591-1422, https://www.herniasurgeries.com/contact-info/, may still use a mesh even though he advertises non-mesh repair. https://www.herniasurgeries.com/
Ohio- Cleveland Clinic Dr. David Krpata, General Surgery HERNIA, David Krpata, M.D. | Cleveland Clinic
In an unexpected turn, I called to make an appointment with Dr Veronikis in MO. That same evening he personally called me and we are scheduling a consultation after the current surgeon finally gets my records sent to them. Hurry up and wait as usual **shrug
Hello Jane
I thought I’d share since I’ve finally reached the end of this nightmare.
2013 Sparc Sling. Instant retention and pain. Hospital trips to get catheter. Had to pretty much stand to pee.
2013 1st surgery to “Loosen” sling. Immediate pain w intercourse near my urethra.
2014 2nd Surgery to remove scar tissue at urethra. Surgeon nicked a hole in bladder but repaired. Still not better.
2014 Joined class action w lawyers out of Texas.
2015 Feeling like I am very sick, bit no one can find out why.
2016 I feel like I’m peeing out my vagina. I pee, then stand up and leak. Every time!.
2017 Diagnosed w Sjogrens
2018 Finally new surgeon believed me, and sure enough, I had a urethro vaginal fistula. Was repaired.
2019 Still sick, in pain, and jist over all of it. My research had led me to Dr. Una Lee in Seattle. I met her and scheduled complete mesh removal.
2020 5 hour surgery and urethral reconstructionusing my labia, 2 nights in hospital, 6 weeks w catheter. I feel better somehow, unfortunately when my catheter was removed I was completely incontinent. 44 wearing diapers. 2 trips back to Seattle for a bulking agent in my urethra. 1st time helped some, 2nd not at all.
2021 Received my settlement. 7 years and 4 months later. I ended up w 50%. I never once spoke to my lawyer. I signed for 6 figures originally, but you get the drift. Only my 1st 2 surgeries were considered, and now I’ve given up my right to further get damages.
2021 Surgery for Fascia Sling using tissue from my thigh. I have a supra pubic catheter this time for 4 weeks and I’m heading to Seattle for removal this week. Not completely sure of outcome yet.
I do know, this is my last surgery. I am done. If I need diapers, so be it.
I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE BEEN TREATED SO HORRIBLY AS I WAS FROM EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE SUIT.
I am pretty sure I have PTSD, from this whole thing. They stole years of my life. I’m trying to forgive and move on, but not there yet.
Dr. Lee saved my life. She believed me, she believed in me, and she knew what I needed.
If I only knew then what I know now.
Ugh
Continue the fight ladies. I send you all love. We didn’t deserve this. Someday this will come out as the worse travesty against women in American history. I sure hope so anyway. Xoxoxoxox
Welcome, Scarllett ~ I think it’s very good that Dr. V called you personally…You know he needs the records and you wouldn’t want him to say anything without full knowledge from the paperwork. You are in good hands. ja
Let us know how your settlement is going Pets, and welcome to the community! Remember the Common benefit fund - it is likely negotiable with your law firm if you know what to say.
They are hoping you don’t.
ja
Once I am called by my atty with the offer, if I am not happy what do I need to tell them? Mine was fairly serious with multiple surgeries and ongoing medical issues.
Hi New-
That’s a difficult question. On one hand, it could be over. On the other hand, you are not happy.
How far off is the offer? How willing is your lawyer to work with you? You understand that he/she does not get paid until you do, so they have some incentive to make you happy. They will not tell you that necessarily.
ARe you expected to pay the common benefit fee of 5% (assuming you were part of the MDL). That can generally be renegotiated. Were there any outstanding loans, medical expenses that need to be reimbursed? Again, the lawyer can work on your behalf to negotiate that downward. It’s amazing how much flexibility there is when everyone is on the verge of being paid.
So without knowing more, those are some of the considerations. Write me if you want jeakre@gmail.com. We can discuss specifics, although I am not a lawyer. I am hoping yours is doing his/her best for you! Stay well,
jane a.
Hi my name is Shane Cook. I was 42 in 2016 when I had a hernia repair with Parietex composite mesh.
I had pain after the repair until I had it removed in December 2019.
I like every mesh injured person was neglected and my concerns about the mesh being the cause was totally ignored.
I am an advocate for Mesh Awareness in Queensland, Australia.
I have an expert clinical report confirming that I was neglected by the Qld health system, and my treatment was below the expected level of care.
I learnt that the Parietex mesh was passed by the TGA which is similar to the FDA without undergoing any human or clinical trials, and that Australian surgeons use this mesh regularly on unsuspecting patients who aren’t being fully informed of the risks and complications associated with hernia mesh and in fact are being used as Guinea Pigs.
There are no lawfirms in Australia who are taking on Hernia Mesh Class Action cases, and trying to get a medical negligence claim in Queensland is nearly impossible.
If you have contacts in Australia who are willing to take on class actions or who would take a medical negligence case, I’d be grateful for their details.
There is a facebook support group with over 1,200 members that would also love a law firm willing to take their cases…
I had to fight the system to get my mesh removed, and against the surgeons strong attempts to advise me against him removing the mesh telling me that he doesn’t believe that he could fix what was wrong with me, but I’d been coached on what to say so that the surgeon had no choice but to follow protocol and respect my request to remove it.
I was bedridden and dying before I had it removed. I couldn’t move without being in intense pain and dependant on a wheelie walker for mobility.
I am better now that I have had it removed, but I am still living with chronic pain and I’m at high risk of reherniating.
This assault on our bodies must be stopped.
Here is the link for the story that was done
I had mesh put in for a hernia in 1994. Immediately had problems including internal bleeding.
Continued to have pain for 17 years before a surgeon recognized it as aa Meshoma and took out the infected mesh in 2011. I continue to have chronic pain and with a recent knee replacement on the same left side the pain is constant and I cannot even sleep!
I would love to find a lawyer that doesn’t tell me, “I waited too long”. I didn’t even know what was wrong with me until they opened me up in 2011 and saw the mess that the mesh had caused. I had seen countless doctors during this time searching for relief. I have all of my medical records from 1994 to now.
Thank you,
Kathy
I had a hernia repair done in 2016 for a tiny hernia where they used a Parietex Composite mesh for the repair.
I was told that it was the top of the range and latest mesh that is the Gold Standard in hernia repair with very good results in preventing reherniation. I was told that there is a risk of chronic pain, and when the surgeon saw my changed expressions, he reassured me that it is less than 1%.
After waking from surgery, I felt pain and was told that it would get better as I healed, it didn’t…
I had an exploratory surgery to remove a tack that they believed was causing the pain, but it couldn’t be located. They noted adhesions and fixed them believing that they were the cause of the pain.
At the post op appointment I told them that I still had the pain where I was informed that there was nothing further they can do surgically and discharged me referring me to the Pain Clinic.
It took forever to get an appointment. I was always holding/guarding my wound site and I had difficulties walking, bending, turning, anything that involved my core moving hurt, but it was tolerable most of the time, i just couldn’t work or do any physical activities.
For ages I believed that I was the only person in Australia going through this until I saw a segmant on tv where I saw others who were suffering like I was, and everything they mentioned, I was repeating in my mind, that’s me…
One of the people had created a support group on Facebook and overnight there were 500+ members who joined after seeing that segment.
I became a major contributor to the group and I learnt that alot of us had the Parietex mesh.
I later learnt that the Parietex mesh had never had any human or clinical trials before being introduced to the global market.
It is then that I started researching, and the deeper I dug, the more disgusted I was that I was deceived into being part of an experiment through Post Market Surveillancing, only in Australia or any other country that I am aware of, there is NO Registry that has been created to monitor these implants, and yet they continue to use these implants regularly in unsuspecting patients.
12 months or so later I had to make an appointment with the surgeon to get evidence for Disability saying that there was nothing more they could do.
The surgeon informed me he wanted to try removing the tack again and I asked if he is going to remove the tack, why doesn’t he just remove the mesh because I believed that the mesh was the cause of all my symptoms. He told me that there was nothing wrong with the mesh but believed by removing the tack that he would eleviate my pain, and he made me feel like this was the only chance that I had of getting any relief.
I signed the consent for the removal of the tack and proceeded with the surgery.
After the tack removal I still had the same pain plus I had developed an itchy feeling that moved around, and the only way to describe it was like an ant was crawling around inside of me at the surgical site.
At the post op appointment I told the surgeon about the new sympton on top of the pain and he told me that there’s nothing more that he could do surgically, and I asked why don’t they just remove the mesh?
He replied that there was nothing wrong with the mesh and that no surgeon is going to remove it for me, so I have to get use to living with the pain.
By this time I was bedridden, I was crippled from the mesh, and the system had given up on me.
I lost all hope, I was made to feel like my life didn’t matter, and yes, there was a way to get the mesh removed through a specialist at around $13,000, and because I couldn’t come up with that, it seemed I was screwed.
I haven’t mentioned the amount of times I have presented to Emergency with the chronic pain, but I can assure you that I was treated exactly like every other mesh injured patient is treated, with ignorance and negligence, and the whole experience through the hospital was “Legal Medical Torture”, it was horrible. There were 2 times I was threatened with police being called and being charged for refusing to leave the hospital because I was still in the same pain I presented with.
I was blessed with meeting someone who was a surgeon’s assistant and when she saw how I had been treated by the system and just left to suffer, I was literally dying from the inside out, I’d lost over 30kg’s and I resembled a cancer patient knocking on deaths door. If I didn’t get that mesh out, I was going to die.
This person guided me so that I would be able to get the mesh out.
First I had to get my GP to refer me to a different hospital and surgical team with a referal for Mesh Explantation. She explained that I wouldn’t be seeing a general surgeon, but a surgical team that were specialists in removing mesh. She then told me that surgeons have a protocol they must follow, and if the surgeon believes that I am pushing for removal over duress of the pain or anything similar, he can refuse to do the surgery, so I needed to remain calm and collected, explain the previous procedures that had been done and the results of those, which failed, because I was still in pain, and tell him that the only thing left is mesh explantation, and that I am well aware of the risks of more pain or death, but I had no qualtiy of life while I had the mesh in me.
At first the surgeon tried deflecting telling me that he will get me into the next appointment at the pain clinic, and I told him that they can’t help me, and if he doesn’t remove the mesh, I won’t last another year…
He agreed to remove it, I signed the consent form and as we were getting my weight, he watched me hobble, nd approached me asking me if I am sure I want to go ahead with this because he doesn’t believe that he could fix what was wrong with me and feared I would be in more pain.
I told him that he was seeing me on a good day, and when the pain gets bad, it couldn’t get much worse, and I had no quality of life.
He agreed to go ahead, but I beleive that he delayed the surgery as long as he could because he didn’t want to do it, but eventually on the 19th of December 2019, I got that toxic piece of plastic out of me.
It’s now just over 2 years post removal, and my recovery has been a bumpy road.
I do believe that I was healing, I wasn’t dependant on my wheelie walker anymore, I wasn’t guarding my wound, and I had no pain except the numbness around the site of the surgery.
I was allowed to drive 3 weeks after the surgery and while I was picking up a friend, a woman reversing out of the driveway hit the back of my car. The seatbelt did it’s job and tightened right across the surgical site.
This brough back the pain, unless the pain was being masked by the numbness until the accident happened, I don’t know, I am no expert, I just know that I felt alot better until a day after the accident, and then I became dependant on the walker again for another 10 months, and I although I still had pain, I was able to walk freely for the next 4 months and in peak hour traffic, I was rear ended again, causing the same thing to happen again, back into my walker for another 10-11 months, I am just beginning to walk without my walker now (January 2022).
So my journey has been a little more complicated, but it’s still my Journey.
During these last 2 years I have been advocating to stop the use of these meshes in Australia.
I have personally met the Queensland Justice Minister/Attorney General who after reading the Health Ombudsmen Clinical report and hearing some of my story, she wrote to the TGA, Australia’s version of the FDA with her concerns over the use of Hernia mesh and made recommendations to better protect Australian lives.
I have also gathered support from one of Australia’s top groin pain Specialists supporting an Inquiry into the use of hernia mesh products saying he has 250+ patients with chronic mesh pain, or Mesh Inguinodynia, with 150 of them with pain so bad that they needed mesh removal.
He also stated that hernia mesh is overused and Mesh inquinodynia is becoming an epidemic in Australia.
The Clinician report I have through the Health Ombudsmen came about because of my continued complaints to them about my treatment in the medical system and whether I should have had a mesh repair when my hernia was described as tiny. I questioned this when I learnt that the surgeon who removed the mesh suture repaired me, and if he could do a suture repair after the mesh was removed, why didn’t they just do a suture repair in the first place instead of using me for a guinea pig or for practice, considering that Logan hospital in Queensland is a training hospital.
My medical records show that a ct scan in early 2017 identified that the mesh was buckled, yet the surgeons kept telling me that there was nothing wrong with the mesh. Every surgeon I saw in Queensland was advising against removal and I had to convince the surgeon to remove the mesh against his strong advice and attempts to convince me against going ahead with the removal, so while I had been waiting on that appointment with the Queensland surgeon, I had also booked a consultation with that Groin Pain Specialist 1,100 Kilometres away. My daughter drove me to see him.
After doing a proper physical examination he told me that the mesh needs to come out… So all these doctors in my home state are telling me there is nothing wrong, and they didn’t refer me to any specialists, I had to do all this work myself while I was suffering, and I am so glad that I had made back up plans, because I had also made another appointment with his colleague as I already knew the specialist I was seeing wasn’t able to remove mesh implanted laporascopily, but his colleague could and I was actually prepared to get it removed in Sydney while I was there, but when I had told him of my being booked in Brisbane for removal, and it was Christmas time, he convinced me that it would be better for me to have it removed in Brisbane, but because my brainfog memory I forgot to tell him that I had to convince the surgeon through using my right to a quality of life to do the surgery, and that he feared he would make me worse, it all slipped my mind, I was telling him that I don’t want to be butchered through the public system and he assured me that the surgeon wouldn’t offer to remove it if he wasn’t comfortable in doing it, which is why I said just before that at the time and even now, I wish I had mentioned how I got the surgeon to remove it. The only reason I wish that is because I know others who have had their mesh removed through the specialists colleague and they actually got evidence and photos of what was removed, the doctor that removed mine wouldn’t let me get anything of the mesh they took out of me, which is a little concerning because I had a bit of an accident a little while ago and went for an ultrasound and I was told that I had another hernia and that there was mesh present.
I am better now, and I will continue getting better, as long as people stop rear ending me, so I can heal properly.
Because of everything I went through, and with the evidence I have from the clinician report that exposed how my treatment was below the expected level of care, and saying that in her opinion, I should not have had a hernia repair for the constellation of symptoms I had.
I was passed from surgeon to surgeon, never seeing the original operating surgeon, the hospital didn’t take appropriate steps to mitigate my pain, and at no point did they consider the mesh to be the cause, or any cause of the pain I was suffering. The hospital responded saying that my care was satisfactory, and as for the buckling of the mesh, they say it is difficult to determine whether that would cause any pain. I asked this specialist if he came across buckling of the mesh would that be enough to say the mesh has failed and should be removed, and he replied with buckling of the mesh with chronic groin pain would be sufficient for the mesh to be removed…
I know this might be a bit over the place, blame the meds, lol
What I can say is that when I was laying in that bed that became like a prison cell, I wished that there was someone out there that would fight for me when I couldn’t even move without being in agony. The slightest movement was like someone tugging on your arm or leg hairs, but on the inside.
What I believe happened was the original operating surgeon didn’t place the mesh in properly, which is why it was buckled, and I would say that the buckled occured during the tacks being secured which is why it always felt like it was tight. I believe that when the tack was removed, the tension loosened and then my body tissue was slowly seperating from the mesh, which is what was causing that itchy crawling ant feeling. Ofcourse I cannot prove that’s what it was, but that is my belief, I KNOW what I was feeling, and it wasn’t right or normal.
I also had an autoimmune response where I grew bony growth in my mouth that the dentist called “Tori”, and they were pushing my healthy teeth out. I had to go for surgery to get the growths Grinded and chisselled out, then stitches through every gap in my teeth.
What have I learnt???
Well for the first part I have really learnt not to trust doctors, surgeons, TGA, FDA, Politicians or lawyers.
I have learnt that patients are being decieved into believing they are recieving safe medical implants, and that the general public are unaware that there are medical implants and devices that are being passed that have never had any clinical trials.
I have learnt that Medical negligence is allowed to happen and that the government is saying that these things are okay because they are aware of these issues and still sit back letting innocent lives be ruined.
I have learnt that all these thing I went through have happened for a reason, and because of all these trials and torture I survived, I am able to use my experiences to put a stop to this assault on our bodies.
I have learnt to stand up for my Rights, and I learnt the importance of giving fully informed consent, and the risks of not being informed way outweight the benefits of not being fully informed.
I have learnt that we need specialist support clinics for ALL Mesh injured patiens, because that is the biggest and most important thing we can do for mesh injured patients, is to give us the support and acknowledgement we so desperately need.
We have been traumatised by all the ignorance and suffering, And I KNOW for a fact that EMERGENCY is not trained to be treating mesh injured patients, and the 2018 Senate inquiry into Pelvic mesh acknowledged that fact for the women which is why they created those pelvic meshclinics.
I know that it has been a long 6 years, and just because we get the mesh removed, that doesn’t mean that we are instantly better.
I have been extremely traumatised by my experience, but I also see the good that has come through it. And I know for a fact that if I hadn’t been so traumatised, it would be soeasy for me to walk away from, but because I care, I don’t want anyone else to have to suffer like I did, so I am determined to create whatever change is neccessary to make SAFE MEDICAL IMPLANTS A PRIORITY.
All of our lives matter, and so does the quality of our lives, and nobody has the right to refuse us from having that quality of life.
Last year I tried creating an event for International Mesh Awareness Day, but sadly I was let down by the person that promised to help that is connected to the Enternainment industry, so that sucked, because I would like to create something really big that will bring all the media stations out and that would get us all the attention we need.
I am only on disability Support, with most going to rent, but if anyone would like to help me make it happen this year, please message or comment, thankyou.
I am fighting for those of you who are bedridden and being gaslit by those who are suppose to care for us, REMEMBER THIS, You are not alone.
I really do want to stop this, but I am just one person, I could really use the help to make this May 1st, the LOUDEST EVER MESH AWARENESS DAY
First time finding this website. My surgery done in April 2013. First Procedure By Uro/Gyn, had 'Laparoscopic Enterocele Repair, Laparoscopic Y-Mesh Sacrocolpopexy, Mini Arc Pro Mini-Sling, and by Colon/Rectal Surgeon had Posterior Repair. Patient record label notes Restorelle Y Polypropylene Mesh, 3365280 Batch Code, Catalog Number 501430 2015-07, Manufacturer Coloplast A/S 3050 Denmark…Second Procedure(same surgery) Uro/Gyn did 'Single Incision Sling System AMS MiniArc (R) Pro #9000261, Lot 799583159, 2015-10-24 Site Vagina.
Felt Bladder mesh/sling 'Pop" and ‘loosen’ before 6 week checkup. Have suffered much since this surgery (daily bladder/bowel incontinence)with other professional consults (helped to explain the surgeries done w/o further invasive surgery). Finally had Medtronic E-Stim inserted Oct. 2020 at suggestion of newly consulted GYN and Colon/Rectal Surgeon. Results minimally satisfactory. Worked as Nurse Practitioner and finally retired 11/2017 due to inability to manage duties. Houston Law Group, Houston, Tx. offering at present $11,000 in Coloplast settlement. Have not accepted offer yet. Have NOT been able to even sit down with a lawyer; send details and have been turned down multiple times. First time reading about Neurogenic Complications which seem very plausible. Thanks for reading/listening.
Hello Jane,
I am needing help finding an experienced Surgeon for a non-mesh inguinal hernia repair. I researched online for several hours and have only found a handful and would like to know all my options. Thanks! - Caleb