During hernia surgery, your surgeon might use a hernia mesh implant to strengthen the faulty tissue. The mesh used is made from synthetic or biological materials.

Hernia mesh implants can become defective, triggering debilitating pain to life-threatening complications such as organ perforation or chronic infections. Often, victims suffer mounting medical bills, wage loss, and excruciating pain. As a result, many lawsuits have been filed against hernia mesh manufacturers.

Hernia mesh lawsuits help patients with life-altering complications after hernia repair surgery seek compensation. You want to retain an experienced personal injury lawyer who can handle product liability cases to obtain fair compensation.

What is a Hernia?

A hernia is an internal organ or tissue that pushes through a weak spot or opening in the muscle or connective tissue that usually holds it in place. Hernias occur in the abdominal or groin areas or any body part. These bulges are often easily noticeable under the skin and may enlarge when you strain, lift, or stand for long periods.

Heavy lifting, chronic coughing, obesity, pregnancy, or past surgeries that weaken muscles are contributing factors. Some hernias form because of natural defects in the abdominal wall at birth.

Abdominal Hernias

An abdominal hernia occurs when an organ, usually part of the intestine, bulges through a weakened spot in the abdominal wall. They happen when abdominal wall muscles are weakened or compromised. You may see a visible bulge or lump in the abdomen. This condition is conspicuous when you cough, stand, or strain. Hernias could be congenital or develop later in life because of heavy lifting, obesity, or previous surgeries.

Abdominal hernia can affect infants, children, and adults. However, it is most often diagnosed in men over 40. The first signs of an abdominal hernia usually include slight discomfort or mild ache at the site of the bulge, mainly while you are active or straining. Sometimes, lying down can temporarily make the bulge disappear.

Some types of abdominal hernias, like an incarcerated hernia, cannot be pushed back into place. They may block blood flow to the trapped intestine and become a medical emergency called a strangulated hernia. Symptoms of strangulation include severe pain, nausea, vomiting, and swelling at the site.

Groin Hernias

A groin hernia, or inguinal hernia, occurs when tissue, typically a part of the intestine, pushes through a weak spot in the lower abdominal muscles in the groin area. The condition looks like a noticeable bulge on one or both sides of the groin, with or without discomfort or pain, especially when bending over, lifting heavy objects, or coughing.

Inguinal hernias are categorized into two types:

  1. Direct – This is when the intestinal tissue pushes through the abdominal wall in an area of weakening over time.

  2. Indirect – This is congenital and occurs due to an incomplete closure of the abdominal lining during fetal development.

A groin hernia initially causes mild discomfort, but it may become larger and more painful if not treated. It may also extend into the scrotum, causing swelling and further pain.

Common Hernia Mesh Complications

When hernia mesh implants reinforce weakened tissues, their design, and materials can cause serious physical complications. These include:

  1. Mesh Migration

The mesh detaches from its initial position and moves inside the body. Migration occurs due to poor anchoring or the body's immune response to a foreign material, leading to inflammation.

Mesh that has migrated can damage nearby organs, including bowel perforation, which is painful and may even be life-threatening. In severe cases, this may require surgeries such as colostomies or partial bowel removal.

  1. Mesh Erosion

This occurs when the material degrades or penetrates surrounding tissues. If it becomes infected, it can cause chronic pain, fevers, and even sepsis.

  1. Adhesions

Adhesions happen when mesh sticks to internal organs and can cause severe problems, such as bowel obstructions. These obstructions can interfere with proper digestion and lead to symptoms like diarrhea or constipation.

Adhesions are common with coated mesh, which are intended to reduce inflammation. However, they sometimes fail to prevent scar tissue from forming.

  1. Infections

Infections can occur a month after surgery, presenting as fever, headaches that will not disappear, and excessive sweating. In cases of coated meshes that do not integrate well with the body, these infections can go systemic, such as:

  • Sepsis

  • Seromas (fluid under the skin)

  • Abdominal pain (often due to nerve damage, adhesion, or infection at the implant site)

  1. Physical Tolls

Physical tolls can include mesh failure, which requires revision surgery in some cases, and permanent health repercussions.

Long-Term Impacts

Hernia mesh implants have long-term effects that occur years after the initial surgery. These include:

  1. Recurrence of hernias. This recurrence is usually associated with a failure of the mesh to integrate well or complications at the original incision site.

  2. Persistent testicular or groin pain. This discomfort can cause nerve damage, inflammation, or complications of the spermatic cord. In severe cases, this damage requires surgical removal of the affected testicle, a procedure that can have long-term physical and emotional consequences.

  3. Delayed effects. Long after the implant, complications such as autoimmune disorders, organ dysfunction, or chronic pain can develop.

  4. Revision surgeries. These procedures are complex and come with additional risks for patients who are already compromised by the prior implant. Medical conditions may preclude the option of corrective surgery altogether, and those who don’t have that option may be left to live with the consequences of mesh failure for life.

Determining Eligibility for a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit

Certain factors determine whether or not you qualify to file a hernia mesh lawsuit:

  • Can you provide solid medical documentation linking the complications you have experienced directly to a defective hernia mesh product?

  • Medical records show evidence of the adverse effects or physical injuries caused by the mesh, like erosion, migration, or infection. These records help prove that your health problems are directly related to the mesh’s failure or flaws, such as substandard materials or poor design.

  • Evidence of negligence by manufacturers or healthcare providers. Often, manufacturers have not warned consumers about the risks of using their product or have not done enough testing before releasing the device to the market.

Statute of Limitations for a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit

The statute of limitations governs the time frame to file a hernia mesh lawsuit. The 'discovery rule' is a pivotal concept in determining this deadline. The statute of limitations begins not at the surgery date but at the date you realized or should have realized that the mesh had failed or had complications. This rule is beneficial because symptoms can arise long after the initial surgery, months or even years later.

For example, you might have had a hernia mesh operation five years ago but did not realize until last year that the mesh had eroded or migrated and was causing you severe pain or damage to your organs.

The discovery rule could permit the statute of limitations to begin at your first diagnosis of mesh-related complications rather than on the original procedure date.

Grounds For Filing A Hernia Mesh Lawsuit

Several grounds for a lawsuit for a hernia mesh injury may be considered when deciding on legal action. These grounds pertain to something specific in the hernia mesh product or the medical care you received. Common claims in surgical mesh injury lawsuits involve the following:

The Hernia Mesh Had A Defective Design

The mesh may have been structurally flawed in ways that caused you serious complications, like:

  • Excessive rigidity

  • Rapid deterioration

  • Incompatibility with the human body

These design issues can cause the mesh to migrate, erode, or stick to internal organs, resulting in pain and infection. In a defective design case, the claim depends on the notion that the manufacturer had released a product with a fundamental flaw that created foreseeable risks.

Often, lawsuits point out manufacturers may have sacrificed safety for cost-saving measures, choosing materials not adequately tested for long-term use. If the manufacturer had been reasonable in the development of the product, you would argue as a patient that these risks could have been avoided.

Documentation of recurring issues across a particular mesh model, testimony of medical experts, and details of complications you have had after surgery are all evidence of a defective design claim.

The Hernia Mesh Had A Manufacturing Defect

Unlike design defects, which impact an entire line of products, manufacturing defects refer to a single batch or unit that went off the intended design during production.

You may find that your hernia mesh was not as strong as the standard product due to material impurities or a manufacturing defect. The defects in this mesh can cause the mesh to break prematurely or not adhere properly to the surrounding tissue. These cause:

  • Organ perforation

  • Infection

  • Persistent discomfort

When you file a lawsuit for a manufacturing defect, you must show that your mesh differed from its specifications and that that difference caused your injuries. That would include presenting lab analyses of the faulty mesh, evidence of similar incidents with the same batch, and expert testimony that the defect caused your problems.

The Hernia Mesh Had Improper Labeling, Failing to Warn About The Dangers

You can file a claim because of improper labeling, which means the manufacturer did not warn consumers about the risks of the hernia mesh. Hernia mesh and other medical devices have instructions, guidelines, and warnings designed to tell patients and healthcare providers about the possible dangers of using the product. The manufacturer could be liable for any resulting injuries if these warnings were vague, misleading, or did not mention specific risks.

The mesh’s labeling never indicated the potential for migration, erosion, or long-term failure, so you may have had surgery without fully understanding the risks. A lawsuit claiming improper labeling contends that the manufacturer did not fulfill its duty to give consumers sufficient and complete information to choose which mesh product to use.

This could include the original instructions with the mesh, testimonies from healthcare professionals about inadequate labeling, and a record of complications from a lack of warnings.

The Doctor Who Implanted The Hernia Mesh Committed Medical Malpractice

You may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim if your injuries result from the surgeon or healthcare team's mistakes.

Hernia meshes are medical devices that surgeons must highly follow a standard of care when they recommend an implant. This could be malpractice if your doctor did not select the appropriate mesh, improperly placed it during surgery, or failed to address postoperative complications.

If the surgeon acted outside the accepted medical standards and you suffered as a result, you could make your claim based on this. Evidence of medical malpractice could include:

  • Surgical notes

  • Expert testimony of how the surgeon acted compared to normal medical procedures

  • Records of a failure to follow up on complications are all

If systemic issues contributed to the error, the hospital or clinic could be included, as well as the surgeon, in a successful claim.

Legal Process for Hernia Mesh Claims

Filing a hernia mesh lawsuit is a complicated legal process. It requires much preparation and an understanding of the claims involved. You must ensure that your medical evidence aligns with the allegations against the manufacturer.

Initial Steps

When you are faced with the possibility of any formal legal action, your first task is to gather and organize all the relevant information. Identifying the specific manufacturer of the product that caused your complications is one of the pieces of evidence in a hernia mesh lawsuit.

In this step, you need your medical records, which contain information about the type of mesh implanted, the manufacturer, and the lot number. These records connect your injuries to a specific device. In case you do not have the manufacturer details in your medical files, you may have to ask the hospital or surgeon to request additional documents from the hospital or surgeon.

You also have to make a detailed timeline of your treatment from the day of your surgery. That includes:

  • Who was the surgeon who did the implant?

  • Where it was done at

  • Follow-up visits for complications that might have happened after the implant

Types of Legal Actions

After obtaining the necessary evidence, the next step is structuring your lawsuit. You could take two primary pathways:

  1. Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)

Many hernia mesh cases are brought together under multidistrict litigation (MDL), a legal procedure that groups many similar cases. In MDL, cases with similar factual questions (such as those concerning a similar mesh product) are aggregated before a single judge to speed the pretrial proceedings, including discovery and settlement negotiations.

If your case is part of MDL, it remains independent, and any compensation you receive will be based on the facts of your case, not the collective settlement. This is advantageous because it often results in faster resolutions and lower legal expenses.

  1. Individual Lawsuits

A single individual lawsuit is a case where you bring an action against the manufacturer for the harm you suffered. This route allows you to present the particulars of your situation in a highly tailored manner. However, individual cases can be expensive and time-consuming because they involve extensive discovery, expert testimony, and protracted court battles.

Compensation in Hernia Mesh Cases

Compensation in hernia mesh lawsuits is generally divided into three main categories:

  1. Economic

  2. Non-economic

  3. Punitive damages

Economic damages include quantifiable losses like medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, and associated costs like travel to receive medical treatment. Dealing with complications caused by defective mesh products brings these direct financial impacts.

The non-economic damages are the more subjective consequences of a defective hernia mesh, such as physical pain, emotional suffering, mental distress, loss of life’s enjoyment, and damage to personal relationships. These damages acknowledge that the effect of defective implants goes beyond financial loss.

Sometimes, manufacturers can be punished with punitive damages if they are found to have acted especially recklessly or knowingly and placed consumers at risk.

Average Settlements

Hernia mesh cases can result in settlement amounts depending on:

  • The extent of the injury

  • The medical evidence

  • History of claims against the product

As an example, C.R. Bard settled 6,000 lawsuits in 2014 for $319 million after a string of cases involving its hernia mesh products. It was not the company's first settlement; in 2011, Bard paid $184 million to settle more than 2,600 lawsuits involving its Kugel Mesh devices.

Along with hernia mesh-specific cases, the transvaginal mesh, a product with similar risks, lost considerable litigation that ended with settlements of about $8 billion on behalf of more than 107,000 lawsuits. These cases often result in outcomes that dictate a hernia mesh settlement, often resulting in substantial compensation.

More recently, multidistrict litigation (MDL) processes, including those involving Ethicon’s Physiomesh and Atrium’s C-QUR mesh, have been used to manage lawsuits more streamlined, handling numerous cases with similar allegations. These MDLs have resulted in some global settlements; others continue with bellwether trials that help establish compensation benchmarks.

Find an Orange County Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

Filing a claim involves a detailed investigation, expert medical testimonies, and an understanding of the manufacturer’s liability and possible negligence. Possible compensation may include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and punitive damages if the manufacturer’s conduct merits it.

You need an attorney to fight big medical device companies and their aggressive legal teams. At the Orange County Personal Injury Attorney, we will collect all evidence, speak to medical experts, and negotiate to obtain a fair settlement. We will go to trial if necessary to obtain justice. Call us at 714-876-1959 for help with a hernia mesh lawsuit.