11 Things to Know Before You File a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit in Michigan
Legally Reviewed and Edited by: Terry Cochran
If you want to file suit against a mesh manufacturer, learn the important things you need to know first, before contacting your hernia mesh lawyer at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. for advice.
You woke up one morning with a lump in your groin or your abdominal wall. A visit to the doctor confirms it is a simple hernia that can be fixed with a quick hernia repair surgery, one of the most common surgeries performed today.
A few months later you feel like you’ve been hit by a train. Everything that could go wrong did, the mesh shifted, or the wound became infected, or you required additional surgeries to fix the problems caused by this surgery, and life is now a nightmare.
Whose fault is it? The doctor, the hospital, the medical device itself? The FDA? Where do you start to figure out who to sue for what so you can get your life back on track?
11 Things you should know before filing a suit:
1. Hundreds of products recalled:
most of the products that caused complications have been removed from the market, either by the companies themselves or by the FDA. Good news for patients going forward, too late for you if you have already been harmed.
2. Thousands of lawsuits filed:
since the first recall of the Bard Composite Kugel Patch in 2005. Injured patients allege that hernia mesh medical devices have directly caused injury post-surgery.
3. Alleged problems with mesh devices:
injured patients have alleged that there are problems with hernia mesh design, manufacturing, marketing, and hernia mesh manufacturers have not adequately warned patients or professionals of the potential complications.
4. Hernia mesh companies involved:
- Ethicon (a Johnson & Johnson Company)
- Atrium Medical
- Bard (Bard Davol)
- Gore
- Covidien / Medtronic
5. Known side effects include:
- Mesh migration
- Mesh shrinkage
- Tissue fusion
- Hernia recurrence
- Severe or chronic pain
- Infection
- Bowel blockage
- Organ perforation
6. Common Injuries of Hernia Mesh Implants
- Adhesions
- Erosion of the implant device
- Mesh failure
- Abdominal pain
- Groin and testicular pain
- Migration
- Infections
- Recurrence of the hernia
7. Most Serious Injuries in Hernia Mesh Cases
- Perforation of organs or tissues and organ damage
- Bowel obstruction
- Fistulas
- Seromas
- Chronic pain
- Life-threatening infections
- Multiple surgeries
- Autoimmune problems
- Delayed or long-term consequences
- Wrongful death
8. Have any cases been settled?
- Thorpe vs. Bard – Composite Kugel Patch – $1.5 million jury award
- CR Bard MDL # 1842 – Composite Kugel Patch – Pays $184 Million to Resolve Earlier Lawsuits
- Bard settles Hernia Mesh class-action in Canada – Composix Kugel hernia mesh patch – $1.375 million.
9. Current cases
- Bard and Davol, MDL #2846 – 19 different brands of Bard Davol’s polypropylene products
- Atrium, MDL #2753 – C-Qur, with Omega 3 and ProLite
- Ethicon, MDL #2782 – Physiomesh Flexible Composite
- Ethicon Physiomesh multi-county litigation – Physiomesh Flexible Composite
- Ethicon Other: Ethicon Proceed – delamination, polypropylene concerns, sterility
- Gore – Gore-Tex hernia mesh
- Covidien/Medtronic – Parietex and Parietene lines, Surgipro
10. What is MDL vs. class-actions, which is better?
MDLs may sound a lot like a class-action lawsuit, but there are distinct differences:
- A judge must certify a group of plaintiffs as a class; this is not the case in MDLs
- Plaintiffs are allowed to opt-out of a class, MDLs are normally mandatory
- Class actions last throughout the entire trial, for MDLs, it is only a group for the pre-trial phase, after that they return to their individual courts if there is no settlement.
11. Criteria for a medical malpractice suit you need to know
These types of cases can be expensive to litigate, but most reputable firms will work on a contingency basis. You will have to prove
- You were owed a duty of care and by whom
- This duty of care was breached
- A direct and explixit causal connection
- Quantify the harm suffered in monetary terms
If you had a hernia repair and live in Michigan, and you have suffered injury, call Eileen Kroll, a Registered Nurse and Personal Injury trial attorney, at The Cochran Firm, phone number: 866-MICH-LAW for an evaluation and assistance.
Disclaimer : The information provided is general and not for legal advice. The blogs are not intended to provide legal counsel and no attorney-client relationship is created nor intended.
