Frivolous Vaginal Mesh Litigation: How unethical medical malpractice lawyers team up with finance executives, marketers and doctors to lure women into unneeded surgery

A very well organized network of profiteer personal injury law firms, doctors, marketers and finance executives have teamed up together to try to make profit out of women who previously had a vaginal mesh surgery by leading them into believing something is wrong with their implant. A recent article in the New York Time looks at the cases of multiple women who previously had a vaginal mesh implant and were contacted by unidentified callers lying to them and pretending that their implants were defective to lure them into expensive, dangerous and unnecessary surgery.

Hired and trained by a marketing company, the callers usually know most of the medical history of the women that they were calling. Victims of these calls are often told that if they don’t undergo surgery to remove the mesh they might die. The caller then set the woman up with:

• the law firm that initially hired the marketing company
• an unscrupulous finance company that will advance the cash for the surgery
• a doctor who will perform the bogus surgery.

This model is very lucrative but completely unethical and gives a very bad name to our profession.

Not only the marketing companies operating this scam obtained the medical history of these women without their  consent but they are also most of the time lying to them when they tell them that their implant is defective.  Women who get caught is this system are not only referred to a lawyer who will build their case but also to a company that “can help” them with financial needs as well as a “qualified” doctor who can perform the mesh-removal surgery.

Companies like Brooklyn based Law Cash provide upfront cash to plaintiffs hoping for a high settlement. These companies back by banks, private equity and hedge funds are luring their clients into high interest loans that they repay only if they get money from the lawsuit. The lawyer then lure their clients into having a surgery some telling them upfront that their lawsuit will get more money if they remove the mesh. In a final step, women find themselves flying to some walk-in clinics in Florida or in Georgia malls where unscrupulous doctors will remove the mesh. The cost of the surgery is $21,000 with the doctor making $3500 a day. At an average of 5 surgeries a day, these doctors make $14,000 a day.

The medical consequences of these unnecessary surgeries are often dramatic. Because transvaginal mesh is considered a permanent implant, surgery to remove the mesh can be difficult and may increase a woman’s risk of additional complications or symptoms. Over time, the tissue grows into and around the mesh, so removing the mesh without damaging the surrounding tissue and organs is a delicate process. Some victims have to undergo additional surgeries to repair tissues, other are left incontinent, wearing diapers and unable to continue their professional activities.

It is a disgrace to all Personal Injury Lawyers that woman are taken advantage of like this.