Media coverage of the 2019 United States Food and Drug Administration ordered withdrawal of vaginal mesh products for pelvic organ prolapse
Abstract
Introduction and hypothesis On April 16, 2019, the United States Food and Drug Administration announced a withdrawal on sales and distribution of transvaginal mesh products for pelvic organ prolapse. The aim of this study was to asses online user behavior on pelvic-mesh related articles after the withdrawal and to evaluate article accuracy. Materials and methods We used Google Trends© to identify the terms related to pelvic mesh that experienced increased activity after the FDA announcement. The terms were analyzed for worldwide social media engagement (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Reddit) between April 16-19, 2019. The top ten lay press articles shared for each term were evaluated. We also examined the top ten Google search results for each term on June 6, 2019, in the US to evaluate what information was available after peak interest subsided. Results During peak activity in April, 30 unique articles were identified after the FDA announcement. Two (6.7%) did not mention the April 2019 FDA announcement. Seven (23%) discussed mesh for stress urinary incontinence. After peak interest on June 6, 2019, Google identified 26 unique articles for the four terms. Seven (27%) did not mention the FDA announcement, and 3 (12%) mentioned mesh for incontinence. Conclusions Internet search patterns and social media behavior following the April 2019 ordered withdrawal on transvaginal mesh for pelvic organ prolapse reveal that some of the most disseminated information did not accurately…
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The FDA has raised concerns about the safety and effectiveness of PP meshes, leading to reclassification as high-risk Class III and withdrawal of certain products from the market.
“Notably, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has raised concerns regarding the safety and effectiveness of PP meshes, leading to the reclassification of these devices as high-risk (Class III) and the subsequent withdrawal of certain products from the market [249,250].”
From Biomaterials in Postoperative Adhesion Barriers and Uterine Tissue Engineering (2025) · cites this paper as [249]
Cites
Moorhead, S. A., Hazlett, D. E., Harrison, L., Carroll, J. K., Irwin, A., & Hoving, C. (2013) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.1933 · Cited by 2,517 · see citing works
Diviani, N., van den Putte, B., Giani, S., & van Weert, J. C. (2015) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.4018 · Cited by 638 · see citing works
The doctor as the second opinion and the internet as the first
Gualtieri, L. N. (2009) · CHI '09 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/1520340.1520352 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
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Biomaterials in Postoperative Adhesion Barriers and Uterine Tissue Engineering
Fazel Anvari-Yazdi, A., Badea, I., & Chen, X. (2025) · Gels · doi:10.3390/gels11060441 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
- Authors
- Shoureshi, P. S., Lee, W., Kobashi, K. C., & Sajadi, K. P.
- Affiliations
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- Virginia Mason Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Shoureshi, Poone S.
- Venue
- International Urogynecology Journal
- Published
- 2020-06-29
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 375-379
- ISSN
- 0937-3462 (ISSN-L)
- 1433-3023
- OpenAlex
- W3038426491
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Urogynecology Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Pelvic floor disorders treatments
- Keywords
- transvaginal mesh, pelvic organ prolapse, media coverage, social media engagement, Google Trends, online search behavior, information accuracy, female pelvic medicine, reconstructive surgery
- MeSH terms
- Female, Humans, Surgical Mesh, United States, United States Food and Drug Administration, Urinary Incontinence, Urinary Incontinence, Stress, Pelvic Organ Prolapse
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