Medical malpractice covers more than a simple medical error. Every year, thousands of patients are injured by defective or ineffective surgical tools, or by medical devices that are actually installed in the body. When problems are discovered, repair work can be expensive and cause more damage than the original condition. Learning more about medical device injuries can help you decide if you need to speak with a lawyer about your case.
Equipment used to perform surgery or used as part of a surgical procedure can be faulty even if the doctor performed the surgery correctly. While medical device failure occurs in many specialties, gynecology has been particularly dangerous for patients in recent years. Recent cases brought by more than one medical malpractice lawyer include both defective products and tools. A look at two recent medical device failures will highlight the differences between defective products and defective surgical tools.
Defective Products: Transvaginal Mesh
Transvaginal mesh is a prime example of a defective medical product. This synthetic plastic was developed to help women suffering from bladder prolapse and incontinence, but it had unintended consequences for the patients. In a typical surgery, doctors inserted this net-like piece of plastic into the pelvis through the vagina, anchoring it in place. The mesh was meant to function as a small hammock, holding the pelvic organs in place.
While the mesh did the job and was non-invasive, for many patients it worked too well. The mesh began to invade other organs and actually grew into the tissue of the bladder and uterus. The removal is painful and causes additional damage, leaving the women treated with the mesh with a mild to moderate problem and a host of serious medical problems that required multiple surgeries to fix. More than one medical malpractice attorney has filed lawsuits in state and federal courts, and most manufacturers have recalled the product.
Defective Devices: Power Morcellators
Like most medical devices and tools, electric morcellators were designed to be beneficial, offering more benefit than risk to patients. This small power tool was created to assist surgeons performing hysterectomies using laparoscopic or robotic surgery. Less invasive than traditional surgery, laparoscopic methods allow the surgeon to make a few tiny incisions and perform the procedure with tiny tools. One of these tools, the morcellator, was designed to break up tissue for easy removal; smaller pieces could easily be removed through small incisions.
The tools worked for surgeries, but the consequences were catastrophic for some patients. Once the morcellator was in place, it worked like a tiny rotating blade or weed remover, dispersing tissue throughout the pelvic cavity. For patients with even a single precancerous cell, cancer that had been confined to a singular location has also spread through the pelvis, greatly increasing the patient’s risk. Although this dangerous type of equipment is no longer sold, some facilities still stock and use it. More than one medical malpractice lawyer continues to file lawsuits on behalf of affected patients across the country.