Texas is expected to receive $13 million from a $188 million multi-state settlement involving 48 other states and medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific Corporation related to transvaginal surgical mesh implanted into women.
The synthetic mesh has been commonly used as a means of supporting the pelvic organs of women suffering from incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse, according to a press release from the Office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The original complaint related to an alleged failure on the part of Boston Scientific to disclose all the safety risks associated with the devices.
“This settlement sends a strong message that I will not allow the health of #Texas women to be placed in jeopardy by unscrupulous businesses who place profits over patients’ well-being,” Paxton’s office said in a Tweet discussing the settlement.
Paxton said that failures in disclosure from medical companies and providers will not be tolerated by the state of Texas.
“Texans and their doctors demand transparency from their providers and expect to receive good information in order to make informed decisions about their health,” he said in the release.
The settlement is the largest-to-date involving mesh used in the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse, according to coverage by KVUE. Yet, the mesh is used to treat a condition so common that one-in-five women experience pelvic organ prolapse after giving birth.
“This is affecting lives and it's major, and no one is really listening to us," Barbara Melling, a patient who is suffering from complications of surgical mesh, told KVUE during their initial investigation into complaints being received by the FDA by recipients of the mesh.
Symptoms include chronic pain, urinary dysfunction and incontinence, KVUE reported. Pressure eventually caused the FDA to call a halt to any further implantation of the mesh as a treatment for pelvic organ prolapse in 2019.