Fresh Disclosures On Vaginal Mesh Implants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWGDjvceKIk

More revelations about the problems with vaginal mesh implants, which we've written about here and here.

Bloomberg reports that Johnson & Johnson sold one early version of the vaginal mesh product before U.S. regulators approved it:

Johnson & Johnson sold a vaginal mesh implant for three years before U.S. regulators approved the device, now the subject of more than 550 lawsuits by women who claim it injured them.

J&J’s Ethicon unit introduced the Gynecare Prolift device in March 2005, touting it in an annual report as an “innovative and effective surgical option” for weakened pelvic muscles. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it learned of the Prolift in 2007, when J&J sought approval for a related product. The FDA cleared both devices in May 2008.
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Johnson & Johnson’s unauthorized sales might cost it more to resolve lawsuits over the product.

The company, the world’s second-biggest health-care products maker, said it could market the Prolift without approval because it was so similar to an approved device, the Gynecare Gynemesh, Morgan Liscinsky, an FDA spokeswoman, said in a March 16 e-mail. “FDA disagreed with this assertion,” concluding distribution began “without appropriate” clearance, she said.