Preview Newsletter
Ethicon 3/9
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J&J Ordered to Hand Over $5.6M in Vaginal Mesh Trial
Mar 6, 2015 | Fierce Medical Devices
By Emily Wasserman
Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) lost another battle in its ongoing vaginal mesh litigation, as a California jury ordered the company to pay $5.6 million in the first trial over one of its mesh devices. -
Win Some, Lose Some: J&J Loses 1st Abbrevo Case, Holds on to Bellwether Win
Mar 6, 2015 | Mass Device
By Brad Perriello
A California state jury hits Johnson & Johnson with a $5.7 million verdict in the 1st trial involving its Abbrevo pelvic mesh, and a federal appeals court upholds its win in the 1st bellwether case against its Ethicon subsidiary. -
J & J on the Hook for $5.7M in California Mesh Trial
Mar 6, 2015 | Seeking Alpha
By Douglas W. House
In a trial over injuries blamed on the TVT Abbrevo transvaginal mesh, a California jury ordered Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) Ethicon unit to pay $5.7M to plaintiff Coleen Perry. -
Kern County Jury Rules in Favor of Woman Suing Johnson & Johnson for Transvaginal Mesh Product
Mar 6, 2015 | Kero Bakersfield
By Charmaine Cleveland
...After nearly eight weeks, the jury ordered multinational corporation Johnson & Johnson to pay Coleen Perry $5.7 million over a pelvic mesh device... -
Pharmalot, Pharmalittle: As the Weekend Nears, We’re Reading About China, Biosimilars and Lots More!!
Mar 6, 2015 | Wall Street Journal
By Ed Silverman
...Johnson & Johnson JNJ -2.35% was ordered by a California jury to pay $5.7 million to a woman who said its Abbrevo vaginal mesh implant eroded inside her, forcing her to have surgery, in the first verdict over that device... -
**This Just In ** Bellew v. Ethicon Prolift Trial Settles After a Four Day Trial
Mar 8, 2015 | Mesh Medical Device News Desk
By Jane Akre
Mesh News Desk has learned that the defective pelvic mesh trial of Dianne Bellew v. Ethicon settled Friday morning at 11:30 after four days of litigation in a Charleston, West Virginia federal courtroom. -
CSP Scotland Calls for Investment in Physiotherapy for 300,000 Adults with Bladder Incontinence
Mar 6, 2015 | Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (UK)
...In 2014 the Scottish government suspended transvaginal mesh surgery for women with urinary incontinence and organ prolapse... -
Offer Women Physio First Not Surgery, Says New Campaign
Mar 9, 2015 | Herald Scotland
By Helen Puttick
...The harrowing stories of women who have suffered complications following mesh implants has triggered a new campaign for all patients to be offered specialist physiotherapy care before they see an operating theatre... -
Shoppers Drug Mart Donates $500,000 to LHSC Women's Care
Mar 6, 2015 | London Community News (Canada)
...It’s estimated up to 20 percent of females experience some incontinence, while prolapse (one of the main reasons for a hysterectomy) may occur in as many as 50 percent of women who have had children...
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J&J Ordered to Hand Over $5.6M in Vaginal Mesh Trial
Mar 6, 2015 | Fierce Medical Devices
By Emily Wasserman
Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) lost another battle in its ongoing vaginal mesh litigation, as a California jury ordered the company to pay $5.6 million in the first trial over one of its mesh devices.
After more than three days of deliberations, jurors in Kern County, CA, found J&J's Ethicon unit liable for design problems related to its TVT Abbrevo and for failing to adequately warn patients about its risks,Reuters reports. J&J/Ethicon still face more than 36,000 lawsuits in state and federal courts over the devices, including consolidated cases before a federal district judge in Charleston, WV.
The latest finding adds to J&J's mixed bag of rulings as the company counters claims regarding its vaginal mesh products. In September 2014, a federal jury in West Virginia after a two-week trial ordered J&J to pay $3.27 million to a woman who claimed the device caused undue pain and serious side effects. In November, a federal judge in Texas tossed out 76 liability suits related to the company's pelvic mesh devices, saying only one of the plaintiffs in the original group of lawsuits over Ethicon's Gynecare Prolift had grounds for a case in the state
Meanwhile, J&J is opting to settle some cases rather than battle it out in court. In January, the company agreed to settle more than 100 product liability lawsuits over pelvic mesh products sold by its Mentor subsidiary. J&J's Mentor unit had previously settled another group of consolidated lawsuits in 2010 over allegedly defective vaginal mesh devices for urinary incontinence.
The recent California jury verdict also comes weeks after J&J decided to drop a legal defense tactic it was using in vaginal mesh proceedings. In January, J&J asked a federal judge in West Virginia to investigate phone calls made to women urging them to sue over allegedly defective implants. But J&J changed its tune in February, deciding instead to withdraw its motion. Bryan Aylstock, a lead plaintiffs' lawyer in the litigation, called the company's motion a "baseless attempt" to skirt responsibility for the devices.
J&J is not the only devicemaker wading through mesh-related claims; Big names like Boston Scientific ($BSX) and C.R. Bard ($BCR) are also dealing with suits over vaginal mesh products. In November, a federal jury ordered Boston Scientific to hand over $18.5 million in damages to four women who claimed the devices caused them constant pain and injuries. In January, Bard lost a bid to delay a product liability trial over its vaginal mesh products. The Murray Hill, NJ-based company claimed a judge's earlier comments regarding a potential settlement may have unfairly swayed the jury.
Other companies such as Endo Health Solutions ($ENDP) and Coloplast have taken a different route, avoiding legal sagas by settling up with plaintiffs. In March, Danish devicemaker Coloplast shelled out $16 million to settle lawsuits claiming it injured women with faulty mesh inserts. In October, Endo said it would add $400 million to its $1.2 billion stockpile to resolve "substantially all" of its remaining claims over vaginal mesh products.
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Win Some, Lose Some: J&J Loses 1st Abbrevo Case, Holds on to Bellwether Win
Mar 6, 2015 | Mass Device
By Brad Perriello
A California state jury hits Johnson & Johnson with a $5.7 million verdict in the 1st trial involving its Abbrevo pelvic mesh, and a federal appeals court upholds its win in the 1st bellwether case against its Ethicon subsidiary.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) this week held on to its win in the1st pelvic mesh bellwether to go to trial, but lost a $5.7 million decision in a California state court in a personal injury lawsuit filed over its Abbrevo pelvic mesh product.
A California jury yesterday hit J&J's Ethicon unit with the verdict, after 3 days of deliberation, finding it liable for design problems and failure to warn, according to a lawyer for plaintiff Coleen Perry.Sign up to get our free newsletters delivered straight to your inbox
The Kern County Superior Court jury awarded Perry $700,000 in compensatory damages and an additional $5 million in punitive damages after deciding that Ethicon's conduct amounted to "malice," her lawyer said.
It's the 4th win for plaintiffs suing Ethicon over transvaginal mesh; more than 36,000 lawsuits have been filed against the division in state and federal courts over the devices, which are used to treat stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
The FDA in 2010 cleared Abbrevo, 1 of Ethicon's newer models of mesh products, for treating stress urinary incontinence. Perry, who was implanted with it in 2011, said she began experiencing a "pulling-type" pain almost immediately after surgery.
Perry said the mesh began to erode in her body, causing pain that she said she expects to last the rest of her life, according to testimony Reuters saw on Courtroom View Network. Peter de la Cerda, a lawyer for Perry, said the verdict sent a "clear message to Ethicon" about its "improper conduct in designing and marketing the Abbrevo."
Ethicon's lawyers said the product was thoroughly vetted before it hit the market and that doctors considered the mesh used in the Abbrevo to be the "gold standard" for incontinence treatment. Ethicon spokesman Matthew Johnson said the company believed it has strong grounds for appeal. Ethicon stands behind the safety and effectiveness of the Abbrevo, as well as its development and marketing, Johnson added.
Appeals court upholds 1st bellwether win
In the other case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld Ethicon's year-old win in the 1st pelvic mesh bellwether to go to trial. Judge Joseph Goodwin of the U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia had issued a directed verdict Feb. 18, 2014, ordering the case dismissed and stricken from the record.
Plaintiff Carolyn Lewis was 1 of thousands of patients who've sued pelvic mesh makers including Ethicon, C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR), Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), Endo Health Solutions (NSDQ:ENDP), Cook Medical and Coloplast (CPH:COLO B). Some of the cases in various federal courts have been consolidated into multi-district litigation under Goodwin.
"Plaintiff has failed to show by expert testimony that a defect caused her injuries, which is fatal to her design-defect claim, regardless of whether her claim is styled as one sounding in strict liability or negligence," Ethicon argued last year.
The appeals court, in a March 2 decision, found that Lewis failed to prove her failure-to-warn claims in arguing that the implanting physician, Dr. Muriel Boreham, relied on Ethicon's warning label.
"When a physician relies on her own experience and examination of a patient in deciding to prescribe a device, and not on the device's warning, the warning is not the cause of the patient's injury," the court ruled. "Accordingly, we agree with the district court that Lewis did not offer sufficient evidence to create a dispute as to material fact regarding whether a different warning would have changed Dr. Boreham's decision to prescribe the TVT."
Goodwin was also correct in excluding expert testimony from Dr. Uwe Klinge linking the TVT mesh to Lewis's injuries.
"The district court did not abuse its discretion in making these rulings. Dr. Klinge was a specialist in hernia surgery, not pathology or stress urinary incontinence. He did not receive training or board-certification in pathology. Dr. Klinge had never treated Lewis, performed surgery to treat SUI, or collected and studied mesh explants from SUI patients. The district court was clearly within its discretion in concluding that Dr. Klinge's opinions regarding Lewis's pain and mesh explant were beyond his area of expertise, and so did not abuse its discretion in excluding those portions of Dr. Klinge's testimony," according to court documents. "We therefore agree with the district court that Texas law required Lewis to present expert testimony establishing a causal link between these alleged defects in the TVT and her injuries. We also agree with the district court that Lewis's failure to present such expert testimony doomed her design defect claim. Not one of Lewis's expert witnesses opined, let alone opined to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that a defect in the TVT caused Lewis's injuries."
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J & J on the Hook for $5.7M in California Mesh Trial
Mar 6, 2015 | Seeking Alpha
By Douglas W. House
In a trial over injuries blamed on the TVT Abbrevo transvaginal mesh, a California jury ordered Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) Ethicon unit to pay $5.7M to plaintiff Coleen Perry. After more than three days of deliberation in Kern County, jurors found Ethicon liable for problems with the design of TVT Abbrevo and failing to warn patients about its risks. Ms. Perry was awarded $700K in compensatory damages and $5M in punitive damages.
The verdict is the fourth win for plaintiffs suing the company over the product. More than 36,000 lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts over the devices, which are used to treat stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. The FDA cleared it for sale in 2010.
Ethicon won one trial in federal court in West Virginia, where another one started on Monday. Ethicon spokesman Matthew Johnson says the company believes it has strong grounds for an appeal of the California verdict. He says Ethicon stands behind the safety and effectiveness of Abbrevo, as well as its development and marketing.
Ethicon, Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR) face more than 70,000 mesh injury lawsuits in federal court and thousands more in state courts. In December, a federal judge advised Bard to settle more than 12,000 lawsuits in light of the large verdicts awarded to date.
Previously: Judge advises Bard to settle mesh lawsuits (Dec. 12, 2014
)Previously: Boston Sci loses first federal case over vaginal mesh product (Nov. 14, 2014)
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Kern County Jury Rules in Favor of Woman Suing Johnson & Johnson for Transvaginal Mesh Product
Mar 6, 2015 | Kero Bakersfield
By Charmaine Cleveland
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A Kern County jury has ruled in favor of a Tehachapi woman who suffered a medical mishap due to a transvaginal mesh product.
After nearly eight weeks, the jury ordered multinational corporation Johnson & Johnson to pay Coleen Perry $5.7 million over a pelvic mesh device. The product is often used to treat women suffering from a variety of symptoms, including pelvic organ prolapse.
Attorneys for Freese & Goss won the case in the ongoing pelvic mesh litigation against Johnson & Johnson specifically over their TVT-Abbrevo sling for urinary incontinence. The jury held the company liable for the defective design, inadequate warnings, and misrepresentation.
Perry’s attorneys told Reuters that she was never warned about the risks involved with the TVT-Abbrevo, and experienced pain almost immediately after the surgery. Perry also said she would most likely live with the pain for the rest of her life.
This case is the third victory in a row for Freese & Goss, all of which involved similar devices manufactured for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence.
Johnson & Johnson says they plan to appeal the verdict.
So far, more than 36,000 lawsuits have been filed over the mesh.
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Mar 6, 2015 | Wall Street Journal
By Ed Silverman
Once again, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too soon, yes? Some weeks really are longer than others. This is, as you know, our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans. Our agenda remains unsettled, but we do anticipate spending time with a couple of the short people, catching up on our reading and promenading with the mascots. And what about you? Tax time is nearing and Congress wants to ensure funding is adequate, so perhaps you can ready your paperwork. The great outdoors remains an option, even if the snow is piled sky high in some locales. Or you could simply plan the rest of your life. Whatever you do, have a grand time, but be safe. See you soon…
China plans to lift price controls on pharmaceuticals in a move that could further open up a market that last year totaled about $105 billion, a 14% rise, but pricing pressure on drug makers may remain high, The Wall Street Journal writes. The shift would essentially shift ultimate pricing power from China’s central government to its many local governments. This means that drug makers will still have to go through provincial bidding systems to win hospital and pharmaceutical contracts by promising quality drugs at the lowest prices.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ -2.35% was ordered by a California jury to pay $5.7 million to a woman who said its Abbrevo vaginal mesh implant eroded inside her, forcing her to have surgery, in the first verdict over that device, Bloomberg Newsreports. Jurors decided Abbrevo was defectively designed and J&J’s Ethicon unit failed to properly warn doctors and consumers about the risks. The health care giant, which plans to appeal, faces more than 30,000 lawsuits accusing Ethicon of making improperly designed vaginal inserts that damaged women’s organs and made sex painful.
The FDA quietly acknowledged plans last week to release its long-sought biosimilars labeling guidance sometime this year, but since agency expected to approve the first U.S. biosimilar as early as today, the guidance may be imminent,Regulatory Focus suggests. At issue is the nomenclature system by which biosimilar products will be named, because there are competing views among brand-name and generic drug makers over whether biosimilars should have names that are distinct from brand-name biologics.
AbbVie believes an updated experimental form of its Humira rheumatoid arthritis medicine has clear advantages over the original and could help the drug maker confront looming cheaper biosimilar versions, Reuters tells us.
Merck is eliminating the 120-employee drug discovery department at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, which it recently purchased for $9.5 billion, according to The Boston Business Journal.
Mallinckrodt agreed to pay $2.3 billion for privately held Ikaria, a maker of a respiratory drug and its delivery system, in a deal that will expand in neonatal intensive care treatments, Bloomberg News says.
A panel of advisors to the government has recommended that late-stage clinical trials be waived under certain conditions for some new drugs already being sold on international markets, Reuters informs us.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is investing $52 million in German biotech CureVac in what is reportedly its largest ever equity investment, Pharma Times writes.
Roche faces a class action lawsuit filed by Nutley, N.J., residents who claim the drug maker was negligent in handling hazardous chemicals that contaminated land below homes in their neighborhood and decreased property values, NorthJersey.com reports.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is endorsing the use of Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer’s Eliquis bloodthinner on the National Health Service in England and Wales, Pharma Times writes.
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**This Just In ** Bellew v. Ethicon Prolift Trial Settles After a Four Day Trial
Mar 8, 2015 | Mesh Medical Device News Desk
By Jane Akre
Mesh News Desk has learned that the defective pelvic mesh trial of Dianne Bellew v. Ethicon settled Friday morning at 11:30 after four days of litigation in a Charleston, West Virginia federal courtroom.
Ms. Bellew, from Tucson, Arizona, was implanted with a Prolift Pelvic Support System in July 2009 in Northwest Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. The implanting surgeon was Carol Dehasse, MD.
Ms. Bellew’s case was transferred into federal multidistrict litigation where there are currently 24,388 filed product litigation cases filed that name Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson and its family of pelvic meshes.
The Bellew v. Ethicon trial was rescheduled from December 2014 to March 2, 2015 after Ethicon argued before Judge Goodwin that recent publicity about defense losses would taint the jury.
Christy Jones, from Linda Gross trial Feb 2013
Attorneys Ben Anderson and Adam Slater represented Ms. Bellew. Christy Jones from Butler Snow represented Ethicon.
The settlement amount is typically not disclosed, nor is there any admission of liability on the part of the mesh manufacturer.
Ms. and Mr Perry
The California state court case of Coleen Perry v. Ethicon concluded the day before with a jury award of $5.7 million to Ms. Perry. The jury also decided the TVT-Abbrevo, also made by Ethicon, was defectively designed and the instructions to the physician were defective or insufficient.
The case against another mesh makers, C.R. Bard, settled last month in the same Charleston, WV courtroom, where more than 70,000 pelvic mesh cases have been consolidated against seven mesh manufacturers. Plaintiff Debra Wise was implanted with the Avaulta Plus Anterior and Posterior BioSynthetic Support System.
Bard, Boston Scientific, Ethicon, American Medical Systems, Caldera, Cook and Neomedic all face similar product liability actions.
Last month, the federal judge presiding over the multidistrict litigation, Judge Joseph Goodwin, warned both sides in this pelvic mesh litigation to set aside their differences and begin settling these cases or try them in waves or with multiple plaintiffs. #
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CSP Scotland Calls for Investment in Physiotherapy for 300,000 Adults with Bladder Incontinence
Mar 6, 2015 | Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (UK)
The letter dated 3 March asks for a meeting with the Scottish minister and urges the Scottish government and NHS health boards to:invest in training and career pathways to increase the number of specialist physiotherapists in pelvic, obstetrics and gynaecology servicesinvest in the development of self-referral to enable patients to access specialist physiotherapistsreview capacity and access pathways to pelvic health and women’s health physiotherapy services in health board areasupdate the patient pathway so that patients – including those with prolapse and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) – are routinely referred for physiotherapy management before referral for surgery
Kenryck Lloyd Jones, the CSP’s public affairs and policy manager, said: ‘The bottom line is we need to ensure access to adequate and sufficient continence services for women and men. We don’t think there’s capacity in Scotland to offer what is required and services are patchy.’
He said that research shows some 300,000 adults in Scotland suffer from urinary incontinence, or nine per cent of the population. Studies have also shown that 50 per cent of women affected by SUI are moderately or greatly bothered by it.
In 2014 the Scottish government suspended transvaginal mesh surgery for women with urinary incontinence and organ prolapse. The move followed concerns about complications resulting from this type of surgery which had affected a number of patients.
But CSP Scotland found that the suspension of surgery had greatly increased the pressure on physiotherapy services which were already struggling to meet demand. Its figures show that Scotland has a shortage of physiotherapists with the post-graduate qualification to specialise in pelvic floor dysfunction.
Doreen McClurg chairs the CSP’s pelvic, obstetrics and gynaecological physiotherapy network. She told Frontline: ‘This speciality is not taught at undergraduate level and the government could support postgraduate training, as well as providing funding for additional posts.’
Another concern for CSP Scotland is that the Scottish intercollegiate guideline for the treatment of urinary incontinence, which fully recognises the value of physiotherapy, is about to be withdrawn. The guideline was written 10 years ago.
Mr Lloyd Jones said it was vital for the physiotherapy profession to propose a new guideline.
A pelvic, obstetrics and gynaecological physiotherapy network seminar at the National Assembly for Wales on 24 February heard about guidelines and best practice in Wales, as well as the issues faced by people with pelvic health dysfunction.
These included mental health problems associated with urinary incontinence Physiotherapist Ruth Emanuel told the event that physiotherapy for this condition met many of the requirements of the Welsh government’s prudent healthcare agenda.
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Offer Women Physio First Not Surgery, Says New Campaign
Mar 9, 2015 | Herald Scotland
By Helen Puttick
CONCERNS that women are being put forward for potentially risky surgery when they could have been helped by a physiotherapist are being raised.
The harrowing stories of women who have suffered complications following mesh implants has triggered a new campaign for all patients to be offered specialist physiotherapy care before they see an operating theatre.
However, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is warning waiting times to see a physio who specialises in pelvic health already range from eight to 35 weeks.
They say there have been cases of patients who went for mesh implant procedures because the appointment came through before they had had the chance to see the physiotherapist.
Kenryck Lloyd-Jones, policy manager for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Scotland, said: "The Scottish mesh survivors have highlighted the scandal of undergoing surgery without knowing the potential risks.
"However, beneath this scandal is the scandal about women not having the chance to see a physiotherapist which may eliminate the need for surgery."
Mesh implants are used to treat problems such as leaking urine - a condition which affects as many as one in three women - and is more likely after childbirth.
Last year the Scottish Mesh Survivors group's Hear Our Voice campaign lodged a petition in the Scottish Parliament calling for an end to their use, describing how patients who had had the implants had been left with long term complications and pain.
Earlier this month Shona Robison, Scottish Health Secretary, asked for all health boards to be sent a letter again urging them to suspend the use of the implants until an independent review of their use has been published.
However, as the implants are not banned by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), patients can still request them.
Mr Lloyd-Jones said specialist physiotherapists could work with patients to strengthen their pelvic floor and eliminate the need for surgery. These staff have expert training in this area and can use a range of equipment to ensure women perform the exercises properly.
However, he said there were only 40 specialists for the whole of Scotland and staff who wanted to work in this field had to pay for their own training.
Irene Pullar, an advanced physiotherapy practitioner in pelvic floor dysfunction in Tayside, said around 80 per cent of the women seen in her service did not require any further treatment.
She added: "Simple advice works very well for a lot of women, but there are women who bypass that completely because there are some areas that do not have women health physios."
Ms Pullar said her service had a waiting list of 150 women and was seeing people within two or three months.
Nikki Lawrence was given an implant when she was 31. After two difficult pregnancies, she said she needed surgery because her bowel had moved and was also suffering some stress incontinence.
Since her operation she has endured excruciating pain in her pelvis and her hips. "I need crutches to walk. It has ruined five years of my life and my kids' life as well," she said.
Ms Lawrence, from Stonehaven, said she was never offered physiotherapy as an alternative to surgery and now wonders whether she really needed the procedure at all.
"I understand that physiotherapy can take a longer time to get the end result, but if the end result is that you are better and you have no pain, it can only be a good thing," she said.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Scotland is calling for all women to be referred for physiotherapy before they are sent for surgery.
They want training to be funded to increase the number of staff in the field and a review of current capacity. They also want women to be able to refer themselves directly for pelvic floor physiotherapy rather than going through a GP.
The Scottish Government said: "Referral for specialist physiotherapy should be considered for all women with incontinence and prolapse, prior to a decision being made to intervene surgically. Physiotherapy can be very helpful and may provide an alternative to surgery for some women.
"Since 2007 the number of physiotherapists working in the NHS has increased nearly 10 per cent, and we expect health boards to have the correct staff in place to meet the needs of the service and ensure high quality patient care.
"The Scottish Government is working with health boards to make sure that all boards follow guidance on the management of these conditions. A protocol is being developed to aid this process."
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Shoppers Drug Mart Donates $500,000 to LHSC Women's Care
Mar 6, 2015 | London Community News (Canada)
Shoppers Drug Mart has donated $500,000 towards enhanced patient care, health and well being for women through the Women’s Care Program at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).
This new funding will specifically enhance urogynecology care for women across the region.
According to a release issued Friday by the London Health Sciences Foundation, urogynecologic disorders are very common. It’s estimated up to 20 percent of females experience some incontinence, while prolapse (one of the main reasons for a hysterectomy) may occur in as many as 50 percent of women who have had children.
Having a urogynecologic disorder like stress urinary incontinence — the unintentional loss of urine — or pelvic organ prolapse seriously affects a woman's quality of life. She may feel discomfort, embarrassment and a fear of taking part in work, social and leisure activities, bringing about significant unwelcome changes within her life.
This new funding will help increase the overall health and well being for women through the development of a comprehensive Continence Care Program at LHSC, including a community outreach and education initiative to create awareness of the Continence Care Program and to enable women in London, southwestern Ontario and beyond to access important and helpful medical advice on the subject.
Funding will also support a Urogynecology Fellowship in Non-Operative Continence Care to assist in clinical-care pathway development, and the creation of an early assessment clinic.
The process of developing this new program will include public input from family physicians and other health-care professionals such as pharmacists, who will be part of a community advisory committee. Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacists are expected to be part of that volunteer group.
London Health Sciences Foundation President John MacFarlane said in the release this donation is just part of the support that Shoppers Drug Mart has provided to London hospitals over the years, which has included sponsoring LHSF fundraising events like the Country Classic Auction, helping sell Dream Lottery tickets since 2006 and providing the gift baskets of essentials for the New Year Baby and mother at LHSC since 2012.
“We know that when women are healthy, their families — and their communities — are healthy,” said Shoppers Drug Mart Owner and pharmacist Beth Li. “That’s why the Shoppers Drug Mart WOMEN program is so proud to support with the Women’s Care Program at London Health Sciences Centre. Through this partnership, we will help women in London and right across Canada who need access to enhanced urogynecologic education and care, so that they no longer have to suffer in silence.”
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