SYNTHETIC SURGICAL MESH FATALLY FLAWED:
MUST BE RECALLED
By LANA C. KEETON
© all rights
reserved Lana C. Keeton 03/02/2012
This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.
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IT’S THE DEVICE, NOT THE DOCTOR!
There is a
raging debate between and among the FDA, surgeons, the medical device industry,
patients and patient advocates. Why the debate? On July 13, 2011 the FDA issued
a Safety Communication Update: “The FDA is issuing this update to inform you
that serious complications associated with surgical mesh for transvaginal
repair of POP are not rare. This is a change from what the FDA
previously reported on Oct. 20, 2008. Furthermore, it is not clear that
transvaginal POP repair with mesh is more effective than traditional non-mesh
repair in all patients with POP and it may expose patients to greater risk.”
Proclaiming
the FDA has no “denominator”, a group of pelvic organ prolapse surgeons issued
“Time to Rethink: an Evidence-Based Response” stating their “concerns regarding
the message the FDA Safety Communication is sending to our patients, the
healthcare community and ‘unfortunately’ to the legal community as well.” These
surgeons are clinging to their mesh as though there are no alternatives.
Public
Citizen then called for a ban on the marketing of all currently available
non-absorbable surgical mesh products specifically designed and labeled for
trans-vaginal repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), a recall of all surgical
mesh products currently available for POP and all proposed future POP products
be classified as a class III device only approved through the premarket
approval process.
Profit
driven entities selling and implanting synthetic surgical mesh, protecting
their financial interests, created a straw man argument: “Surgical procedures
are more difficult to compare than pharmaceuticals because they are dependent
on the judgment and skills of the operator.”
“Time to
Rethink” is a moot argument, and under its current regulatory authority, should
be completely disregarded by the FDA. The FDA does not regulate the practice of
medicine, nor have authority over, doctors or surgeons. The FDA regulates medical devices, not
surgical procedure.
Even if the
FDA had the authority to regulate the practice of medicine, the POP surgeons
have no basis to take the position the FDA’s MAUDE database adverse events
reported for POP repair were caused by bad surgeons for the following reasons:
1.
Surgical report not available through adverse event
reports on MAUDE database.
2.
Injured patient not available for examination by the
POP surgeons.
3.
If the premise were correct and the adverse events are
caused by bad surgeons and the average doctor is unable to use mesh/mesh kits
per instructions for use provided in the package insert, the mesh and/or mesh
kit is defective. It is a flaw in the usability of the design and consequently,
a flaw in the medical device itself.
Other
professional medical societies recommend educating the patient of the harm, but
take no actions to stop the harm. The American Congress of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists (ACOG) responded to the FDA’s 2011 warning with its Practice
Bulletin #85, “Pelvic Organ Prolapse” (reaffirmed in 2009): “…patients should
consent to surgery with an understanding of the postoperative risks and
complications and lack of long-term outcomes data.” ACOG’s response to new data
in the FDA’s 2011 warning is its’ outdated 2009 Practice Bulletin?
ACOG
further states: “Fellows should follow the emerging literature closely to
remain knowledgeable about which techniques and products should be avoided and
which are ultimately proved to be of
benefit to patients.” Exactly when and how are Fellows supposed to know
techniques and products have been proved
to be of benefit to patients? What guidelines does ACOG offer? This in no way
informs the debate. These products and procedures are ever evolving because
they cause significant harm and do not provide better outcomes.
Following
the October 2008 FDA warning, the American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS)
presented a January 2009 webinar pointing out to their members how to avoid
legal liability from surgical mesh implantation by informing women of the
complications of mesh. Perhaps if they had put down their scalpels then, there
would not have been another 2,874 seriously injured women reporting adverse
event reports on the MAUDE database and the July 2011 Patient Safety
Communication would not have been issued by the FDA.
Still
today, patient consumers are not adequately informed of potential prolonged,
delayed and irreversible disorders from the implantation of synthetic surgical
mesh. Daily thousands of women continue to be put at risk for serious harm, and
even death, from synthetic surgical mesh implantation while POP surgeons protect
their “important tool in our surgical armamentarium” while professing “This large segment of highly dedicated
surgeons,…could suffer unjustified and arbitrary
medical-legal exposure.” POP surgeons have the power not to pick up the scalpel
to implant surgical mesh in women, protecting themselves from medical-legal
exposure and women from debilitating, life altering permanent complications.
There are other options available.
“TENSION-FREE” CONCEPT FLAWED
Surgically
implanting mesh without sutures purposely unleashes the body’s natural
inflammatory response. The body attempts to encapsulate or reject the implanted
foreign body polymer. Acute inflammation is not followed by healing. Chronic
inflammation sets in creating a cascade of life threatening inflammatory
responses.
Mesh is not
tension free once human tissue scars into the interstices of the mesh.
Inflammation from scar tissue growing into the interstices creates a scar plate
with greater strength than the surrounding tissue. Tension is placed on surrounding
muscle, tissues or organs. This process stops normal body function.
In pelvic
floor repair, the tissue-mesh scar plate can create more serious problems than the
original prolapse. Achieving anatomically correct pelvic floor is virtually
impossible as the mesh-tissue scar plate displaces other organs, tissue and
muscles, again stopping normal body functions.
CONCLUSION
Synthetic
Surgical Mesh fails to meet the FDA’s 510(k) “Intended Use/Indications Statement”
for pelvic organ prolapse repair. It fails to bridge and/or support fascial
defects in the vagina because it is incapable of following the direction of the
fascia, particularly in the pelvis. It actually stops normal body function
because it creates an amorphous matrix. Long term, failure of Synthetic
Surgical Mesh is highly probable, no matter who the surgeon, what the surgical
procedure, who the manufacturer of the device or where the placement of the
mesh in the pelvis.
What is not being debated:
1.
Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for potential
irreversible complications.
2.
The root cause of the irreversible complications
3.
No established protocol for the visualization of the
mesh in the body through MRI, CT Scan or Ultrasound.
4.
No established mesh removal protocol. What surgical procedure
addresses the complications? Are there surgical procedures to address the
complications? Do these procedures account for the in vivo shrinking, hardening
and/or degradation of synthetic surgical meshes used for hernia repair, bladder
suspension and pelvic organ prolapse repair?
5.
The “skilled” surgeons blaming the “unskilled” surgeons
hypothesis is a straw man argument. Even the “skilled” surgeons are frequently
incapable of removing mesh.
6.
Hundreds of studies, research papers and abstracts only
recite the facts as seen by medical professionals from their individual
perspective as doctors, not evaluations of the overall flawed concept of the
use of synthetic surgical mesh.
7.
There is no comprehensive analysis of the physical and
chemical properties of the petroleum based polymers used in the manufacture of
synthetic surgical mesh in relation to the human body or how mesh physically
and chemically breaks down in the body resulting in life threatening chronic inflammation
(which may lead to autoimmune disease).
8.
Who, what, where, when and why are missing from the
narrative.
Despite the debate, still no clear
path exists for patients suffering symptoms of weakened or torn tissue
evidenced as hernias, incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse. All the current
market conditions which precipitated the FDA’s July 13, 2011 warning of
trans-vaginal mesh implantation, are the same today, except there is a national
dialogue and huge awareness of the serious complications of synthetic surgical
mesh implantation.
There is a
tremendous amount of discussion without real solutions. Patient harm continues
unabated. Hernias, incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse are not diseases.
They are conditions. The symptoms of these non-life threatening conditions are routinely
treated with life threatening, life altering devices. This is not a surgical procedure
issue. This is a dangerous medical device issue. As Public Citizen has called
for, the solution is a complete recall of these very harmful devices.
Truth in
Medicine supports the petition of Public Citizen pursuant to the Medical Device Amendments to
the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 360f and 360h, and 21
C.F.R. 10.30, 810, and 895 to immediately 1) ban the marketing of all currently
available non-absorbable surgical mesh products specifically designed and
labeled for trans-vaginal repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) 2) recall all surgical mesh products currently on the
market available for POP and 3) that all proposed future POP products be
classified as a class III device only approved through the premarket approval
process.
Respectfully,
Truth in Medicine Incorporated
Lana C. Keeton
Lana C. Keeton
President & Founder
901 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 3-423
Miami Beach, FL 33139
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