A West Virginia woman and her husband have filed a defective medical device lawsuit against a company that produces surgical mesh used to fix pelvic organ prolapses. She is one of dozens of women who say that the Bard Avaulta product caused them significant pain, complications, and anguish.
Betty Adkins of Cabell County had surgery in 2007 for a pelvic organ prolapse. The surgery was preformed by Dr. Mitchell Nutt at St. Mary’s Medical Center and involved the implantation of the Avaulta Plus Anterior and Posterior BioSynthetic Support System, manufactured by medical device company C.R. Bard. However, in the months and years after the surgery, Adkins experienced a number of complications with the sling and suffered from pain, mental anguish, and, ultimately, the loss of an organ.
According to the West Virginia medical malpractice lawsuit, the mesh eroded through her vaginal wall, causing significant permanent damage and deformity. The FDA issued a warning about mesh sling problems in 2008 – after over 1,000 women reported complications, perforation, erosion, pain, and infection after getting mesh implanted. Many needed another surgery to remove the medical product from their system.
She and her husband, Raymond Adkins, are suing both the surgeon that incorrectly implanted the device as well as the company, which the defective medical device lawsuit says was negligent in designing, manufacturing, marketing, labeling, packaging and selling the products.
The couple is seeking an undisclosed amount for both punitive damages and compensatory damages.