How Patients Are Being Exploited by Product Liability Schemes

A story in The New Yorker last week absolutely blew my mind. You've probably seen ads for victims of pelvic mesh on social media — but this story is about something much more sinister. It describes an entire system and infrastructure where patients are being abused.

Several patients described receiving a call out of the blue from someone telling them they were at risk because they had pelvic mesh implanted. These calls didn't come from their doctors, their hospitals, or the device company. They came from a third party.

In every case discussed in the article:

• The patient was called and scared into thinking their mesh was dangerous
• They were told it should be removed immediately
• They were directed to a specific surgeon — who was out of state for all the patients discussed
• They had to fly to have the mesh removed

Here's what was really happening:

1. Someone accessed their medical records illegally — these people should not have had access to patient records
2. Patients were convinced to sign documents that prevented them from using their health insurance (which would have covered removal if actually needed)
3. Surgeries were performed by less qualified doctors — many in strip mall surgery centers
4. The patients' information was then sold to law firms to litigate product liability cases

The patients were more valuable to the legal system if they'd had surgery to manage the mesh. That was the entire point.

These patients were put at risk both financially and physically:

• They didn't need the mesh removed — the patients discussed in the article were not having problems
• They were misled about the urgency and the process
• Many were made to take out loans to pay for removal, even though insurance would have covered it
• Some were physically harmed by unnecessary surgery

Although the article discusses a few patients who sued the law firms and received some compensation, it's not a happy ending. Those are just a handful of patients — many more have been harmed by this scheme.

We need a better system for product liability. It's bonkers and dangerous that law firms can somehow access patients' medical records, scare them into unnecessary surgery, and then profit from the litigation.

If you ever receive an unsolicited call telling you that a medical device you have is dangerous and needs to be removed:

• Talk to YOUR doctor first — the surgeon who placed it or your primary care physician
• Don't sign documents that waive your insurance coverage
• Be skeptical of anyone directing you to a specific out-of-state surgeon
• Protect your medical information and ask how they got your records

This system needs major reform, and more investigation into how these firms are accessing private medical records.