What you Need to Know about Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

What is Hernia Mesh?

Hernias can happen when tissue, part of the intestine, or even an organ breaks through a small hole in the muscle, which usually causes a visible bulge, especially when the area is strained. They can occur throughout the body, but tend to happen in areas like the groin and abdomen. There are multiple ways a hernia can be healed, but in many cases, surgery is the only option, such as laparoscopic, open, and robotic repair of the weakened muscle.

Once an incision is made close to the hernia, the surgeon stitches the muscle back together, and a common way to keep it from reopening is to use a mesh across the opening like a band-aid. Surgical mesh provides support to this area and comes in various forms, both synthetic and natural, knitted or non-knitted, absorbable or non-absorbable. 

However, thousands of these mesh implants have not been suitable for the surgery and can lead to numerous problems for patients who have had them implanted. 

The Effects of Defective Hernia Mesh

There are multiple issues that have been noted to arise with the defective hernia meshes used, which cause the victims complications after they’ve already endured surgery for their condition. These complications cost the victims even more money to put right, as well as the stress, worry, and uncertainty of having something so defective inside their bodies. 

These inferior mesh structures are made of polypropylene that can oxidize and erode inside the body when in contact with the bloodstream, causing it to shrink and cause inflammation or discomfort. The mesh can also constrict movement in certain areas or even migrate under the surface of the skin and get stuck in the wrong place. 

Surgery can fail altogether because the mesh doesn’t do its job and further surgery is required, increasing the risk of infection to the site. In addition to all of these, there’s also the risk of scar-tissue adhesion, intestine obstruction, organ perforation, fistulas, and fluid build-up known as seroma.

Due to the fact so much can go wrong with these mesh implants, it’s no wonder that tens of thousands of people have already made successful lawsuits against the manufacturers.

Who are the Main Hernia Mesh Manufacturers?

There are 4 main manufacturers of hernia mesh who are the subject of current lawsuits: Bard Davol, Atrium, Covidien, and Ethicon. The vast majority of lawsuits, approximately 24,000, are against Bard Davol, who manufactures dozens of types of mesh. It was discovered that many of their mesh products were causing internal injuries to patients, so they began to be recalled almost 20 years ago, in 2005. 

Atrium followed suit in 2013 and recalled a handful of their products, including C-Qur, even though it’s believed thousands of them had already been fitted in patients. Covidien found that their Parietex Composite Parastomal mesh was experiencing a high rate of failure and recalled it in 2018, and Ethicon pulled 18,000 of one of their main meshes from the market, too, for the same reason.

Notable Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

There are currently well over 26,500 cases of multidistrict legislation against hernia mesh manufacturers, with close to $185m in settlements already paid. 224 defective hernia mesh cases were settled in MDL by Ethicon in December of 2023, and just a month earlier, a Bard hernia mesh victim was awarded $500k in Ohio. 

This comes on the heels of another $225k award in Florida, but by far the largest verdict was the $4.8m awarded to a man in Rhode Island in 2022. 

Every case is different, and you should seek legal consultation to understand your claim and potential recoverable damages.  The values of settlements are provided for illustration only, and do not imply that your claim will prevail or result in similar damages or a settlement.

It’s clear that the law is on the side of those who have been the victims of hernia mesh, whether it’s due to a defective design or manufacturer, ineffective labeling that didn’t highlight the risks, or even medical malpractice by the doctors when using the products. 

The damages being sued for are due to the suffering and pain caused by the hernia mesh implants, which in turn meant they were unable to work and earn a living. High medical bills to rectify the problem are also brought into consideration alongside the effect it has had on their quality of life. The issues caused by the hernia implants are not short-term, and sadly, many of the patients cannot even have revision surgery in an attempt to solve the problem.

If you believe you were injured by hernia mesh, get in touch with us today and to join the Hernia Mesh Lawsuit to get the help you deserve.