S.C. part of $60 million settlement with medical company

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South Carolina is part of a 48-state, $60 million settlement with C.R. Bard Inc. and parent company Becton, Dickinson and Co. regarding allegations of deceptive marketing of transvaginal surgical mesh devices.

Thousands of women who had surgical mesh permanently implanted in the pelvic floor to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence suffered serious complications, according to a news release from S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office.

The attorneys general of 48 states and the District of Columbia alleged that C.R. Bard misrepresented or failed to adequately disclose serious and life-altering risks of surgical mesh devices such as chronic pain, scarring and shrinking of tissue, painful sexual relations, and recurring infections, among other complications.  

“This settlement does not make up for the pain and life-changing side effects caused by this product, but we hope the changes we’re requiring the company to make will prevent similar problems in the future,” Wilson said in the release.

The settlement provides injunctive relief requiring both C.R. Bard and Becton, Dickinson and Co. to provide patients with descriptions of complications if the companies should begin to sell transvaginal mesh again. All Bard-sponsored clinical studies must be registered with the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s ClinicalTrials.gov, and sponsorship in clinical studies, clinical data, or preclinical data for publication must be disclosed, among other settlement terms.