A woman has filed a lawsuit against Atrium Medical Corporation and other manufacturers of a hernia mesh patch she said was defective and caused personal injuries.

Plaintiff Willie C. underwent surgery to repair an umbilical hernia using C-Qur mesh, the allegedly defective hernia patch, in November 2010. In February 2015, Willie returned to the hospital for repair of the current incarcerated hernia and severe adhesive disease.

“For several years she had noted a painful lump in the area of her prior hernia repair with C-Qur Mesh,” the defective hernia patch lawsuit states.

“There were large amounts of adhesions between the omentum to the anterior abdominal wall as well as severe adhesions between the terminal ileum and the C-Qur mesh with several previous permanent tax observed within the wall of the small bowel.”

After Willie’s small bowel was removed from the mesh, several serosal tears were noted. Since the integrity of her bowel was compromised, she had to undergo a small bowel resection where two feet of her bowel were removed, and a piece of Proceed mesh was used to repair the new hernia.

“Pathology from the excision of mesh and bowel revealed synthetic mesh with the embedded fibril-fatty tissue and chronic inflammation and small bowel portions with multiple areas of several…adhesions and embedded mesh,” the defective hernia patch lawsuit states.

Defective Hernia Patch Led to Major Medical Complications

The C-Qur Mesh is made out of polypropylene and has an omega 3 gel coating derived from fish oil that is currently not used in any other hernia repair product currently available in the U.S. It was intended to minimize adhesions and inflammation and to facilitate its incorporation into the body, but Willie states that it did not perform as planned.

“Instead, the Omega 3 coating prevented adequate incorporation of the mesh into the body and caused an intense inflammatory and chronic foreign body response resulting in an adverse tissue reaction including damage to surrounding tissue in the form of sclerotic, granulomatous and/or fibrotic tissue and improper healing,” the lawsuit alleges.

Instead of allowing the fluid to escape through the mesh, the lawsuit states that the Omega 3 coating prevents fluid escape, leading to seroma formation that in turn leads to infection or abscess formation as well as other complications.

“The Omega 3 coating of Defendants’ C-Qur Mesh is cytotoxic, immunogenic, and not biocompatible, which causes or contributes to complications such as delayed wound healing, inflammation, foreign body response, rejection, infection, and other complications,” the defective hernia patch lawsuit claims.

As a result, Willie has brought forth a number of allegations against the defendants in the defective hernia mesh patch lawsuit including strict products liability for defective manufacture, defective design, failure to warn and negligence, in addition to punitive damages allegations.

Willie is seeking damages to recover for personal injuries, past, present and future medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, mental and physical pain and suffering, permanent impairment, disfigurement, and permanent injury.

The Defective Hernia Patch Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17- cv-00060-JFC, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.