Medical devices are touted as modern technological wonders that can extend and save lives and help restore bodily function that might otherwise be lost. And sometimes these devices are indeed indispensable. Our Houston medical device defect lawyers note that many people, including some of our own family members, rely on pacemakers for instance.
Yet some pacemaker leads have been found faulty, but too dangerous to change or remove. So the patients implanted with the defective leads have to undergo much more frequent monitoring by physicians to look for dangerous changes in their pacemaker function. Needless to say, just the knowledge that you’ve been implanted with a pacemaker lead that is quietly corroding inside your body adds additional stress to your life.
The Houston medical device defect lawyers at Denena Points, PC emphasize that defective pacemaker leads are only one example among many of a flawed medical device. Numerous medical devices have become the subject of frequent lawsuits. In some cases, those lawsuits relate to injuries or deaths caused by off-label or unapproved uses of the devices, as in the case of the Infuse bone graft. Some of the medical devices most frequently linked to serious injury or death include:
Transvaginal mesh implants: Used to repair pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or treat urinary stress incontinence, the surgical mesh was originally used to repair hernias. It was approved for POP repairs under the FDA’s expedited approval process based on its success in repairing hernias. But POP repair is a vastly more complex and invasive undertaking than a simple hernia repair, and the mesh has since been found to cause severe pain, injuries, scarring, and complications, including perforation of the bowel and extrusion through the vagina in POP patients. Quite often the POP mesh repair fails and the patient requires additional surgeries. In just three years, 9 transvaginal mesh manufacturers received more than 1,000 reports of complications from the device. Thousands of lawsuits have already been filed against those manufacturers, which include: Avaulta, Bard, and Gynecare. Our Houston medical device defect lawyers are among the attorneys handling these cases to advocate for fair compensation to our grievously injured clients.
Da Vinci surgical robot: Used in laparoscopic surgery, most often to remove the prostate or perform a hysterectomy, the device has been linked to multiple serious injuries and fatalities. The device was recently the focus of a research study regarding the chronic underreporting of injuries and deaths linked to the da Vinci robot.
Mirena intrauterine contraceptive devices: These IUDs have been tied to infections, organ damage, and perforations of the uterus and bowel.
Hormone-release contraceptives: Introduction of large amounts of hormones into the body has been shown in many cases to carry increased risks of health complications or death. With theNuvaRing contraceptive ring that’s placed near the cervix and the Ortho Evra patch, the high hormone releases designed to prevent conception have been linked to heightened risks of heart attack, stroke, and pulmonary embolism, among other serious side effects.
Continue to Part 2 to learn more about defective hip replacement devices, dangerous brand-name pacemaker defibrillator leads, and other harmful medical devices that have been linked to severe side effects and death.