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Mentor Obtape Vaginal Sling
The idea of a vaginal sling for women who suffer from embarrassing incontinence has been around for at least a century. The slings reinforce muscles weakened by, for example, childbirth, and help patients control urinary functions. So, it is only logical that recent devices would represent significant improvements, making life easier and healthier for the 13 million women afflicted with incontinence.
That was not the case with Mentor Corporation’s Obtape vaginal sling, which was introduced in 2003 and pulled from the market just three years later. Many of the estimated 35,000 women with the Mentor sling suffered severe complications: breakdown of vaginal tissue, chronic discharge and infection, painful extrusions, and other injuries, some of them permanent.
When the Mentor Obtape vaginal sling was used in transobturator surgical procedures to treat stress incontinence, complications appeared almost immediately because of the device’s poor design and manufacture. The non-woven fibers and small pores prevented vital nutrients and oxygen from reaching the tissue, inhibiting the surgical site from healing. This defect also caused the device to push through the vaginal wall, leading to erosion, severe pain, vaginal discharge, and infection.
By 2006, the Journal of Urology had documented widespread injuries caused by the Mentor Obtape vaginal sling. A study at the Continence Center at Virginia Mason Medical Center demonstrated that more than 13 percent of women implanted with the Mentor vaginal sling suffered complications, while no complications were experienced by a control group who received a vaginal sling by another manufacturer.
Faced with this evidence, Mentor removed the Obtape vaginal sling from the market . . . but not before many women suffered crippling injuries and the pain of surgical removal. A number of these patients are filing lawsuits, and the law firm of Searcy Denney is one of the few Florida firms with experience investigating and litigating these kinds of claims.
If you or a family member has suffered severe injury because of a Mentor Obtape vaginal sling, we are prepared to help you evaluate your claim and help you seek justice. Please fill out our contact form, or call us to learn more and arrange for a confidential free consultation.
