A Florida man is suing Atrium Medical Corporation over a defective hernia mesh infection.

Plaintiff Joseph G. had surgery in April 2013 to repair hernias. The surgeons used C-Qur Mesh, manufactured by Atrium.

Shortly after surgery, Joseph began experiencing pain and swelling associated with a defective hernia mesh infection.

He had the C-Qur mesh surgically removed in August 2015. The mesh had corroded in Joseph’s bowel, causing such damage that the affected portion of the bowel had to be removed. Joseph will need to use a colostomy bag for the rest of his life.

The lawsuit states Joseph “suffered great bodily injury, resulting in pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish and loss of capacity for enjoyment of life, aggravation of a pre-existing condition, expense of hospitalization and medical and nursing care and treatment.”

Atrium Blamed for Defective Hernia Mesh Infection

Atrium is facing more than one hernia mesh lawsuit over the C-Qur line of mesh implants.

Several plaintiffs contend that patients can have allergic reactions to the fish oil coating on the mesh implants. An allergic or inflammatory response to the mesh can lead to serious complications.

Some patients’ bodies reject the mesh because the body reacts to the polypropylene mesh material as a foreign body. Revision surgery to remove the mesh does not always cure the pain from such a reaction.

Hernia mesh litigation includes allegations that polypropylene is a polymer plastic that has known tendencies to shrink, induce a rejection reaction from the body, become infected, and erode inside the body.

Because of the plastic’s pliability issues, patients such as Joseph are experiencing corroding mesh that damages or twists the bowels.

Even in its packaging, Atrium is accused of poor quality control because although a chemical is used to keep the mesh product sterile, Atrium fails to keep the package full of adequate moisture to effectively prevent defective hernia mesh.

This same lack of moisture allows the fish oil coating to lose its adherence to the mesh, creating more problems for the recipient as pieces of the coating erode.

FDA Warns Atrium

In 2012, the FDA sent a warning letter to Atrium noting that the manufacturing and sterilization processes for the C-Qur hernia mesh had been changed without proper tests being done in advance. The FDA drew attention to several infections related to the mesh that Atrium had neither investigated, nor reported.

The FDA even found multiple events of pieces of human hair embedded in the supposedly sterile mesh products.

In 2013, Atrium issued a Class II recall on the C-Qur mesh, but none of the defective hernia mesh products were taken off the market. Instead, Atrium sent letters to doctors to advise them that the Omega 3 coating could stick to the packaging and peel away from the mesh. The coating is designed to prevent the mesh plastic from direct contact with a patient’s internal organs.

If you have suffered from a defective hernia mesh infection, you could benefit by speaking to a lawyer regarding hernia mesh litigation options.

The Defective Hernia Mesh Infection Lawsuit is Case No. 2016 11402 CIDL in the Circuit Court, Seventh Judicial Circuit, in and for Volusia County, Fla.