Home » Legal News » Mentor Files Motion To Consolidate Obtape Vaginal
Receive a free case review.
Mentor Files Motion to Consolidate OB Tape Sling Lawsuits
October 31, 2008
Lawyers for Mentor Corporation, the company that manufactured the OB Tape vaginal sling, have filed a motion to establish a multidistrict litigation (MDL), which will allow all OB Tape vaginal sling lawsuits to be coordinated and centralized during pretrial litigation. In their motion, the Mentor’s lawyers argued that this will help avoid duplicative discovery and depositions, inconsistent rulings and conserve the resources of the parties.
The OB Tape vaginal sling is a surgically implanted medical device designed to treat female stress urinary incontinence, a condition characterized by an involuntary loss of urine that occurs during physical activity.
After just 3 years on the market in 2006, Mentor stopped marketing the OB Tape sling. By 2006, numerous women who received the device during bladder surgery were experiencing serious complications and more than 35,000 women had already been implanted with the OB Tape vaginal sling.
Currently, at least 22 OB Tape vaginal sling lawsuits are pending in 12 different federal district courts on behalf of 95 plaintiffs. The lawsuits allege that the OB Tape Sling was defectively designed, that Mentor failed to adequately warn consumers about the serious health risks associated with the OB Tape vaginal sling, and that Mentor misled the FDA in order to get the OB Tape vaginal sling approved.
Unlike other vaginal slings, the OB Tape mesh is made of small-pored non-woven fibers that can block vital oxygen and nutrients from reaching vaginal tissues. This may lead to impaired healing, infection, and other serious side effects.
Mentor obtained FDA approval for the OB Tape sling in 2003 by claiming it was similar to other vaginal slings already on the market, thereby avoiding having to conduct any clinical trials to assess the safety of the device.
Federal procedures allow the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate cases that have one or more common factual questions. In the past, the Panel has agreed to coordinate most complex product liability cases involving medical devices that result in multiple lawsuits.
Mentor has asked the Panel to centralize its lawsuits in the Western or Northern Districts of Oklahoma, or as an alternative in the Northern District of Ohio. Mentor argues that these are central locations in accessible cities that at least one OB Tape lawsuit is already pending in.
Mentor ObTape Sling lawsuits are also currently pending in the Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Georgia, Middle District of Florida, District of New Jersey, Central District of California, Eastern District of Louisiana, Eastern District of New York and Western District of Missouri.
OB Tape Vaginal Sling Side Effects Attorney
If you are one of the approximately 50,000 women who received an OB Tape vaginal sling, and you experienced serious side effects associated with this defective medical device, you may be entitled to monetary compensation for your injuries. Contact us today for a free and confidential case evaluation.
BOOKMARK SITE
ADD TO DEL.ICIO.US
EMAIL THIS PAGE
Legal News RSS
