If you or a loved one underwent a painful second surgery due to defective hernia mesh, you’re not alone.
A hernia repair surgery is enough to deal with. You are missing work while you go through a long, painful recovery from surgery. Managing your treatment can feel like a full-time job. And you still need to pay your medical bills. If you now need a second, painful surgery due to defective hernia mesh, you are not alone.
At Console and Associates, we understand that you are stressed out trying to deal with the unimaginable frustration of having to go through a second, terribly painful surgery and recovery just because some company sold defective hernia mesh. What you should be focused on is recovering. All you want is to get your life back on track.
So what do you do? Reach out to someone who knows what you’re going through – and how to help. For more than 25 years, Console and Associates has been helping injured people as they work to heal and recover from injuries due to negligence.
We have seen the impact that these cases have on someone. It’s more than just medical bills and pain management – it’s the struggle to hold your life together as something unexpected tears it off its course.
With defective hernia mesh specifically, you are one of the thousands of victims who deserve justice for the pain and suffering that you’ve gone through. To make sure you receive the settlement you deserve, you need an experienced hernia mesh attorney.
Throughout our decades of legal practice, Console and Associates has worked with law firms across the country, including those that handle defective hernia mesh claims. If we cannot handle a claim, our goal is to connect you with an experienced attorney who can. If you suffered as a result of a defective mesh, call today. We’ll ask you a few questions so that we can put you in touch with the right attorney.
A long, painful recovery from a hernia surgery is difficult enough. Let us help make sure that you are in the right hands.
According to the FDA, surgeons perform more than one million hernia repair surgeries every year. As many as 30% (Wall Street Journal) of patients report experiencing chronic pain after the procedure.
It shouldn’t have to be this way.
Your pain could be due to a defective mesh used in your hernia repair. If it was, the manufacturer of that device is responsible for the pain their product caused.
Using surgical mesh to repair a hernia isn’t new. While the materials might change, the surgery is one of the most popular ways to address a hernia. In fact, by the 2000s, mesh repairs accounted for more than 90% of groin-area hernia surgeries. A successful procedure reduces recovery time and can limit complications.
But reducing complications isn’t the same thing as eliminating them. Patients can still experience pain, infection, or hernia recurrence. In some cases, these complications occur due to a defective mesh. Companies that surgical design materials have a responsibility to make their products safe. If they sell something defective, they have to issue a recall. By the time most companies do this, however, thousands of patients might already have the mesh inside them.
Recently, patients who received Physiomesh or C-Qur reported a high number of complications. These are two popular brands of surgical mesh used to repair groin hernias. Ethicon’s subsidiary Johnson & Johnson makes Physiomesh, while Atrium Medical Corporation manufacturers C-Qur. Both devices are currently under recall due to patient complications: Physiomesh FDA Recall Information, C-Qur FDA Recall Information.
Defective hernia mesh can lead to painful, often expensive, complications. To repair or replace the mesh, a patient will have to undergo at least one extra surgery. This means more time out of work and months of recovery. This costs a lot of money, money that you shouldn’t have to pay. If you’re suffering because of your hernia mesh, you have the right to sue.
Every personal injury lawsuit is different, and the amount of compensation you’re entitled to depends on the details of your claim. If a lawyer sues a hernia device manufacturer on your behalf, they base how much they seek based on a few factors, including:
In 2017, several class action claims came out against large surgical mesh manufacturers. These cases are still pending. However, in 2011, C.E. Bard announced that they would settle hernia mesh claims for $184 million dollars.
Lawsuits about surgical mesh aren’t limited to hernia repair, however. In 2017, several manufacturers lost multi-million dollar claims for the transvaginal mesh.
The FDA maintains an information page on hernia mesh products, including a section on complications. According to the FDA, these are the most common complications from hernia repair surgery:
Based on FDA’s analysis of medical device adverse event reports and of peer-reviewed, scientific literature, the most common adverse events for all surgical repair of hernias, with or without mesh, are pain, infection, hernia recurrence, scar-like tissue that sticks tissues together (adhesion), blockage of the large or small intestine (obstruction), bleeding, abnormal connection between organs, vessels, or intestines (fistula), fluid build-up at the surgical site (seroma), and a hole in neighboring tissues or organs (perforation).
These complications include all methods of repair, not just surgical mesh. However, one of the jobs the FDA has is monitoring reported complications for products it approves, including hernia mesh. They make these reports publicly available in the Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database.
According to the FDA:
Many complications related to hernia repair with surgical mesh that have been reported to the FDA have been associated with recalled mesh products that are no longer on the market. Chronic pain, infection, recurrence, adhesion, bleeding, obstruction, and perforation are the most common complications associated with recalled mesh. In the FDA’s analysis of medical adverse event reports to the FDA, recalled mesh products were the main cause of bowel perforation and obstruction complications.
Unfortunately, many patients with a defective mesh implant write off their symptoms until they see their device on the FDA’s recall list. They may not know there is a connection between the surgical mesh and their ongoing health problems, so they don’t think to discuss the situation with their doctors. As a result, they suffer longer.
If you experience pain or discomfort after a hernia repair surgery, always speak to your doctor. If what you’re experiencing is normal, you’ll still get some peace of mind. However, it could be a sign of something more serious. If your hernia mesh is defective, seeking medical treatment sooner often leads to a quicker recovery.
Can a hernia mesh make you sick?
Yes, it can. As many as 30 percent of all patients who undergo hernia surgery will experience chronic pain, The Wall Street Journal reported. The most common side effect of a defective hernia mesh is discomfort, but in some cases, there can be a risk of serious medical problems. Some of the most dangerous complications include:
Thankfully, these serious complications are relatively rare. Unfortunately, they’re not the only side-effects that can negatively impact your life. More common issues include:
If your symptoms are the result of a defective or failed abdominal mesh, the only way to treat it is through a hernia revision surgery.
If you experience any unusual or painful symptoms after your hernia repair surgery, speak with your doctor immediately.
Surgical mesh often has a higher success rate than other methods, which means many doctors prefer them. However, the devices are not perfect, leading to painful complications or infections that require a second surgery to fix.
Another frequent usage of surgical mesh is in pelvic or transvaginal mesh procedures. Your pelvic organs don’t magically stay in place within your body. Your muscles and ligaments do the work of holding the vagina, cervix, uterus, intestines, and rectum in place.
But what happens if these muscles and ligaments become too weak to do this job? This happens, often due to damage caused by difficult childbirth or fluctuating hormones during menopause.
Pelvic organ prolapse is a medical condition in which the pelvic floor muscles become too weak to hold your organs. This causes your organs to prolapse, or fall out of place. POP can lead to symptoms such as pain, pressure, and urinary incontinence, or the loss of bladder control. Women who undergo a surgery involving mesh for pelvic organ prolapse typically do so because they suffer symptoms that interfere with their daily life.
Currently, there are no active transvaginal mesh lawsuits for product liability.
However, if you are experiencing pain or discomfort after your hernia mesh surgery, you should speak with your doctor. While no currently offered product has a known defect, problems can still happen. In fact, 10 percent of women who have the procedure performed experience complications.
If you feel like your doctor made a mistake during your surgery, it might also be a sign of medical malpractice. This is not the same as a product liability claim since it’s the surgeon who is at fault and not the device used. If you feel like you were the victim of medical malpractice, call us and we will review your case for free.
Some research suggests a link between the use of hernia mesh and an increased risk of infection. There’s even a term for the condition: hernia repair mesh-associated infection. If you experience any of the following, speak with your doctor immediately:
The rejection could be due to a bacterial infection, autoimmune response, or a sign of hernia recurrence.
One cause of hernia mesh rejection could be a bacterial infection. According to John Hopkins Medicine, you are at greatest risk for this type of infection during the first 30 days after your procedure.
In some cases, your body might reject the hernia mesh. If this happens, your immune system attacks it as an infection. This leads to inflammation and swelling. If you have an autoimmune response it may need more surgery.
In some cases, your hernia may come back even after you have surgical mesh installed. This is also known as hernia recurrence. Surgical mesh can reduce the chance of recurrence, but it does not eliminate it. In fact, if you receive defective hernia mesh, it could actually increase the chance of recurrence.
Learn more about why traditional antibiotics won’t work with surgical mesh and the signs of Hernia Mesh Infection.
Any time you have surgery, you have the chance of bacteria or other foreign objects entering your body. Like any other surgical material, hernia mesh should always be clean and sanitary, but mistakes can happen. Even if your surgeon and the mesh company do everything right, the infection can still occur.
However, some brands of hernia mesh, such as Atrium’s C-Qur, seem to have a higher chance of infection. If you experience any discomfort after a hernia repair surgery, call your doctor. If your mesh caused the complication, you could be entitled to compensation.
The quickest way to know whether or not you have a case against a mesh manufacturer is to speak with an attorney who handles mass tort claims. If you call Console and Associates, depending on the specifics of your case, we’ll be able to connect you with a lawyer who understands the complications that defective mesh can cause. They’ll listen to you describe your symptoms and ask you questions about your surgery. Then they’ll let you know what your options are. You could qualify for two types of cases:
If the details of your case are unique, your lawyer could recommend an individual lawsuit where you sue the manufacturer, hospital, or doctor for your injuries.
In some cases, a flaw in the design of the surgical mesh causes complications or infections for many patients. If this is the case, you may qualify for a mass tort lawsuit, where your lawyer sues the manufacturer on behalf of everyone who received their product.
Hernia mesh lawsuits are a form of product liability. This means that the statute of limitations involves something known as the “discoverability rule.” The term means when you learned or should have learned that your symptoms stemmed from hernia mesh. After you learn that the mesh caused your injury, you have a limited amount of time to file a claim.
The laws concerning discoverability vary depending on your state. Because of this, you should be in touch with an attorney as soon as you think you might have a claim. It’s not too late to get the compensation you deserve.
You shouldn’t have to accept years of pain and discomfort due to defective hernia mesh. Since 2017, thousands of other injured patients have sued Johnson & Johnson, Atrium Medical Corporation, and other manufacturers for compensation related to their injuries.
Call (866) 778-5500 to discuss your hernia mesh case. Once we know the details of your case, we can make sure to connect you with an experienced hernia mesh attorney who cares. The consultation is always free, and we are here to help.
A hernia is a medical condition in which an organ or a piece of fatty tissue protrudes through the wall of muscle or connective tissue that normally keeps it contained. This causes discomfort and often painful pressure. While hernias can develop throughout the body, they most commonly occur in the groin or abdominal area.
Getting a hernia is the result of weakness or strain of your muscles. As you get older, your muscles gradually get weaker, which can increase your chance of a hernia. Certain life factors can weaken your muscles, increasing the risk of a hernia:
In some patients, the abdominal wall does not close completely at birth. This is a congenital effect that makes hernias much more likely.
There is no way that you can completely prevent a hernia, but you can reduce your chance of getting one by following a few basic steps.
Maintain A Healthy Weight
Keeping yourself healthy has a lot of benefits, including reducing your chance of a hernia. If you’re overweight, fat cells can press against your muscles and organs. Over time, the strain caused by extra weight could cause connective tissue to tear.
Stop Smoking
Like a healthy diet, quitting smoking can have many health benefits. Smoking reduces your ability to breathe clearly, which can cause heavy coughing that leads to hernias.
Practice Safe Lifting
Lifting heavy items puts a strain on your muscles. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offers guidelines for how to safely lift heavy objects. Following a few simple steps, such as “lift with your back, not your knees” can greatly reduce your chances of a hernia.
While the only way to repair a hernia is through surgery, you might be able to treat some of the most severe symptoms without it. Losing weight can reduce pressure and make the pain more manageable. If your symptoms are not severe, your doctor could recommend against surgery. Instead, they’ll monitor your condition to see if the hernia gets better or worse. If your doctor recommends surgery, there are two primary procedures:
Not all hernia repair surgeries require the use of mesh. Surgical mesh is one of several “tension-free” options for repair. These methods aim to reduce strain on the body by avoiding pulling or stretching muscles. Tension-free hernia surgeries traditionally have shorter recovery times and fewer recurrences.
Hernia mesh is a medical device used to repair hernias during surgery. The material acts as a prosthetic barrier to hold the organ or tissue in place. In some instances, doctors staple hernia mesh implants to keep them in position.
In the past, surgeons use cleaned and disinfected animal tissue. This organic material came from the stomachs or intestines of cows, pigs, or other animals.
However, modern surgical mesh is mostly made of synthetic materials. This allows them to be sterile and less likely to get rejected by your body. The fibers that make up the material vary depending on the manufacturer.
Surgical hernia mesh comes in two main varieties: Absorbable and non-absorbable.
Yes, when functioning properly, hernia mesh is safe.
However, any procedure carries some risk, and hernia mesh is not without its problems. Bacterial infection, inflammation, and other complications can occur. Like other forms of repair, there is a chance that the mesh won’t work and patients experience hernia recurrence. Other problems that can occur with hernia mesh include:
If you experience pain and discomfort after your surgery, speak with your doctor to start determining what could be wrong.
While surgical mesh carries some risk, it is the preferred method for treating hernias. Compared to other methods, it is often safer and carries a lower chance of hernia recurrence.
If your hernia makes using mesh difficult or impossible, your surgeon may perform a pure tissue repair. Instead of covering the perforation with mesh, the doctor attempts to close the wound on its own.
Non-mesh surgery is not the preferred method since it requires greater skill on the part of a surgeon. Compared to hernia mesh, pure tissue repair has a higher instance of hernia-recurrence. If performed improperly, tissue repair can also cause tension or discomfort.
