Preview Newsletter
Ethicon Media Monitoring 9/12/2018
-
Prosecutors Are Said to Issue Subpoenas Over Pelvic-Mesh Surgery Financing
Sep 11, 2018 | The New York Times
By Matthew Goldstein and Jessica Silver-Greenberg
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are intensifying an investigation into allegations that a network of doctors, lawyers, financiers and consultants lured women into having pelvic mesh implants removed, according to the two people familiar with the matter. -
Lawsuit Funders Investigated by NY State, Florida
Sep 12, 2018 | Mesh Medical Device News Desk
By Jane Akre
The topic of seeking funding for your mesh removal surgery is certainly a controversial one. While some believe all funders are bad, in some cases, they have provided the resources for a much-needed surgery when there are no other options. -
Health Secretary to update parliament on mesh controversy
Sep 12, 2018 | Daily Mail
The Health Secretary is to update parliament on mesh implants after the death of a woman was linked to the controversial procedure. -
'Surgical mesh' medical review tour to visit Yorkshire
Sep 12, 2018 | Gazette & Herald
By David Mackie
A government tour of the UK to speak to women experiencing complications from pelvic mesh implants will come to Leeds tomorrow, September 12 - and patients in Yorkshire are being urged to attend with their families.
Client Attorney Privileged/Attorney Work Product/At Request of Counsel
Online Sources
-
Prosecutors Are Said to Issue Subpoenas Over Pelvic-Mesh Surgery Financing
Sep 11, 2018 | The New York Times
By Matthew Goldstein and Jessica Silver-Greenberg
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are intensifying an investigation into allegations that a network of doctors, lawyers, financiers and consultants lured women into having pelvic mesh implants removed, according to the two people familiar with the matter.
In the past month, the prosecutors have issued subpoenas seeking information about whether women had been tricked into undergoing unnecessary surgery and whether doctors or others had received improper payments, said the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to do so publicly.
The prosecutors, from the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, began making informal inquiries about the network this year after The New York Times reported that hundreds of women may have been pressured into getting the implants removed to improve their odds of winning large cash settlements in lawsuits against the manufacturers.
A spokesman for Richard P. Donoghue, the United States attorney in Brooklyn, declined to comment.
The Florida attorney general’s office, in an emailed statement, said it was also investigating the matter but declined further comment. Many of the procedures in question were performed at walk-in medical centers in the state and were arranged by consultants there.
Millions of women around the world have received mesh implants to correct a condition called pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when a woman’s organs fall and press against her vagina because of weakened pelvic muscles. That causes urinary and other problems. The mesh reinforces the pelvic wall.
The devices have helped many women without incident, but tens of thousands have said they were harmed by the products and have joined so-called mass tort lawsuits against the companies that made them.
The women were flown to Florida, put up in motels and operated on by doctors they often met for the first time the day of their surgery. All costs were paid by finance firms in return for a portion of settlements the women might ultimately receive from makers of the devices, including Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson.
Law Cash, which is based in Brooklyn, was one such firm.
George Arzt, a spokesman for Law Cash, which specializes in providing cash advances to consumers with active personal injury lawsuits, said the firm did not comment on “investigations real or imagined.”
Many of the women were represented in the mass tort suits by a Minnesota law firm, McSweeney Langevin. The law firm’s engagement letters with clients often included a clause requiring that disputes between it and its clients be resolved through arbitration.
One client of the McSweeney firm is now suing her lawyers there, Law Cash and others, claiming they misled her about the need to get the mesh removed. The woman, who lives in Arkansas, won a court victory last month when a federal judge in Little Rock denied a move by McSweeney to force the matter into arbitration.
The federal judge, James Moody Jr., called the arbitration agreement between the woman, Jerri Plummer, and the law firm “unconscionable.”
The judge said the law firm and its agents “somehow got their hands on Plummer’s cellphone number and, after instilling fear of death in her, solicited her to not only undergo a surgical procedure in another state, but also to allow them to represent her.”
A lawyer representing the McSweeney firm said no decision had been made on whether to appeal the ruling in the Arkansas case.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/business/vaginal-mesh-surgery-lawsuits-financing.html
-
Lawsuit Funders Investigated by NY State, Florida
Sep 12, 2018 | Mesh Medical Device News Desk
By Jane Akre
The topic of seeking funding for your mesh removal surgery is certainly a controversial one. While some believe all funders are bad, in some cases, they have provided the resources for a much-needed surgery when there are no other options.
On the other hand, be wary of unscrupulous profiteers who have entered this business.
You’ve heard the stories- women are told if they had an additional mesh removal surgery, they will get more money in their settlement. In some cases, the woman wanted a surgery anyway so the law firm arranges for a “funder” to cover the cost of the surgery, her travel, her stay in a hotel, sort of a “concierge” treatment.
None of this is free.
She is expected to pay, likely full retail, when she receives a settlement.
Now, the New York Times (here) reports federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are investigating the players in these alleged schemes for profit including doctors, lawyers, financiers and consultants.
The paper reports that prosecutors want to learn if the women were tricked into additional surgeries, which they call “unnecessary” and whether the doctors on the receiving end have enriched themselves improperly.
Hundreds of women may have been pressured to have these surgeries to win a larger cash settlement, the NYT reports. The surgeries were allegedly done at walk-in medical centers, often in Florida.
Prosecutors from the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York and the Florida AG’s office are reportedly looking into the matter.
(Mesh News Desk, in talking to thousands of women, has never encountered a single one voicing a desire to increase her settlement by undergoing unnecessary pelvic mesh surgery.)
LawCash, based in Brooklyn is one such firm being questioned. Its founder, Dennis Shields, 51, was recently found dead in his Trump Tower apartment, allegedly from a prescription pain drug overdose. His girlfriend was Bethany Frankel who appears on The Real Housewives of New York reality show on Bravo.
Jerri Plummer is one such alleged victim.
The Arkansas woman is suing LawCash and her law firm McSweeney Langevin Of Minnesota alleging she was scared into undergoing a surgery in another state. Read her April NYT story here.
The McSweeney Langevin law firm now has clients sign a waiver that they understand that cash advances or lawsuit surgical loans are “terrible loans with extremely high interest rates,” here.
AUGS ADVANCES THE NARRATIVE OF GREEDY TRIAL LAWYERS
While the mesh scandal has received scant coverage in U.S. media, two media outlets Reuters, and New York Times have both covered the funding issue with a less than flattering portrayal of mesh-implanted women.
Some stories suggest the women were duped into the additional surgery, asking no questions, while other women are alleged to be seeking a financial windfall from their pending settlement. The value of a settlement rises with additional pelvic mesh removal surgeries.
It is a narrative that at least one medical society has promoted. AUGS (American Urogynecology Society) has highlighted the April New York Times story at least twice with the implication the woman may have been misled as to whether she needed to have her mesh removed. AUGS still insists that polypropylene mid-urethral slings are the “Gold Standard,” and are safe and effective and should not need to be removed.
The medical society points (here) to an April NYT story (here) as favorable coverage since it indicates some of the surgeries may have been unnecessary and done strictly for gain.
Mesh News Desk reported in 2016 that the then AUGS president told the 1,700 members in attendance at its annual conference that trial lawyers were behind the promotion of mesh problems.
HOW CASH ADVANCES WORKS
Cash advance firms work in several ways.
Some lend a small amount of money to tide you over, to make a car payment, for example. Lawsuit Financial, of Detroit, for example, discourages large loans.
Others lenders pay the doctor for a surgery, usually at a discount rate. The win-win is that the doctor is paid immediately instead of waiting for years to receive reimbursement. When a case is finally settled, the funder is paid for the money it advanced for the surgery, generally at a higher rate. That’s where the profit lies. There should be no interest rate accruing.
Finally, there are lenders who attach growing interest rates to a cash advance, easily multiplying what is owed many times over when it comes time to pay.
CONSUMER ALERT- RED FLAGS
If a doctor or lawyer says “Don’t use Your Insurance” ask why not? Is there a good reason? Once insurance is involved, the profit incentive is eliminated so be very clear what the reason is for not using insurance.
You should be a strong advocate for your own health. Can you see any doctor you want? Check out the surgeon. How many mesh removals has he/she done? Does he say he can do a “complete” removal? (that may be difficult with some meshes). How does he know? Does he measure the mesh when it’s removed? Does he show it to you? Can you talk to others who have had surgery done by this doctor?
What is the going rate for your surgery? There is really no such thing since the government and insurance often receive a discount for comparable services but obtain a breakdown of the cost of the surgery and the concierge service. Is there a huge discrepancy between what you pay and the doctor is paid? What will your lawyer receive for the referral?
Does your doctor have a financial arrangement with the funder for sending you to there?
What happens if you lose your case? For funders who purchase the charges from the medical providers, there should be no fees or interest.
https://www.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/lawsuit-funders-investigated-by-ny-state-florida/
-
Health Secretary to update parliament on mesh controversy
Sep 12, 2018 | Daily Mail
The Health Secretary is to update parliament on mesh implants after the death of a woman was linked to the controversial procedure.
Jeane Freeman will make a statement at Holyrood on Wednesday following the death of Eileen Baxter, 75, in August.
Multiple organ failure was said to have led to Mrs Baxter’s death, with sacrocolopexy mesh repair – an implant to fix a pelvic organ prolapse – noted as an underlying cause.
Her son Mark, 52, has called for the products to be completely banned.
The Scottish Government has said it will consider whether a review or inquiry should be held in the wake of Mrs Baxter’s death.
Holyrood’s Public Petitions Committee has called for the use of mesh implants to stop, citing “serious concerns” over an independent review into their use.
That review concluded the procedure – used in the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) – must not be offered “routinely” to women with pelvic organ prolapse.
The review was announced by the Scottish Government in 2014, with health boards requested to stop the procedure until its conclusion.
It remains under suspension in NHS Scotland except in exceptional circumstances.
The review’s final report was branded a “whitewash” by women who have suffered painful and debilitating complications from mesh, including campaigners Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy, who brought the issue to prominence when they lodged a petition with the Parliament on behalf of the Scottish Mesh Survivors campaign.
Professor Alison Britton has been commissioned to conduct a review of the review, which is due to report later this year.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-6157729/Health-Secretary-update-parliament-mesh-controversy.html
-
'Surgical mesh' medical review tour to visit Yorkshire
Sep 12, 2018 | Gazette & Herald
By David Mackie
A government tour of the UK to speak to women experiencing complications from pelvic mesh implants will come to Leeds tomorrow, September 12 - and patients in Yorkshire are being urged to attend with their families.
Baroness Cumberlege is leading the review, and is talking to women whose lives have been changed following a so-called 'sling implant' operation.
The potential dangers of the operation have been the focus of campaigns by Ryedale mum-of-four Jackie Cheetham and MP Kevin Hollinrake, among others.
The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review hearing for pelvic mesh implants is being held in Leeds at the Novotel Leeds Centre on Wednesday September 12 between 10:30am and 12:30pm.
Travel expenses can be reimbursed as part of the review, which family members and loved ones may also attend.
Participants will need to submit all travel receipts, with economy or standard class used on public transport whenever possible.
Those unable to attend can email their experiences to reviewteam@kcl.ac.uk.
Mesh implants are made of polypropylene plastic. They were used to treat incontinence or prolapse, often suffered from pregnancy and childbirth weakening pelvic floor tissue.
In July, NHS England accepted a recommendation to temporarily suspend the mesh implants until March 2019.
Kath Sansom, of the Sling the Mesh campaign group, said: "The pain this procedure can cause is indescribable.
“I’ve been in contact with women in Yorkshire who are suffering serious complications from vaginal mesh implants. This procedure was being promoted as a ‘quick fix’ for urinary stress incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse – but the plastic can twist, shrink, go brittle and degrade inside the body.
“If you, or a loved one, has been experiencing complications following the procedure then I urge you to share your story with Baroness Cumberledge and the Government’s independent review.”
If you are suffering complications, access to a support network is available through the ‘Sling the Mesh’ Facebook Group.
A free counseling hotline will be available for the duration of the review on weekdays between 10am and 6pm on 0121 314 7075.
http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/16835233.surgical-mesh-medical-review-tour-to-visit-yorkshire/
Client Attorney Privileged/Attorney Work Product/At Request of Counsel
Online Sources
Add recipients
Suggested