The Rise and Fall of Mesh in Pelvic Surgery and the Shortcomings of Medical Device Regulation.

Two U.S. Food and Drug Administration public health warnings regarding the use of mesh in stress incontinence and prolapse repairs have had far-reaching clinical and legal consequences. In this commentary, we explore the drastically distinct results from these mesh-based procedures, which revealed systemic flaws with the medical device approval process across specialties and affected thousands of patients.