Plaintiff Victoria A. has initiated an umbilical hernia mesh defects lawsuit against medical device manufacturer C.R. Bard. The plaintiff alleges that she suffered significant pain and suffering as well as permanent injuries directly related to her receipt of their umbilical hernia mesh product.

In 2015, an umbilical hernia repair procedure was carried out for the plaintiff in this lawsuit. She says she was implanted with the Bard umbilical hernia mesh product at that time, which was sold, manufactured and distributed to the plaintiff through her physicians for the treatment of hernia repair.

In September 2015, however, Victoria alleges that a removal of the umbilical hernia mesh procedure was carried out in New York. During that procedure, she claims, the doctor noted that there was exposed mesh under the skin.

The hernia mesh lawsuit alleges that Bard represented their umbilical hernia mesh product as safe and effective for use with hernia repair.

Umbilical Hernia Mesh Complications

The umbilical hernia repair mesh product was approved by the Food and Drug Administration using the 510(k) clearance process which streamlines clinical testing requirements when manufacturers can show that a new medical device is substantially similar to an already approved device.

The umbilical hernia mesh lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff is entitled to recover compensation for all damages as a result of allegations of strict liability manufacturing defects, strict liability design defects, strict liability failure to warn, and negligence.

The plaintiff alleges that the very makeup of the umbilical hernia mesh product was insufficient and unsafe for placement in the human body and that the dangers of this were never disclosed to the medical community.

Specifically, the umbilical hernia mesh lawsuit alleges that the defendant should have known or did know that the makeup of the polypropylene used to manufacture the ST mesh product prohibited permanent implantation of that product into the human body and that the defendants should have known that the polypropylene used was not inert and would ultimately flake, degrade, disperse or chip throughout the body.

Many of the patients who have received mesh products in an implantation surgery report issues with the polypropylene material used to make it. This plastic material is used to create bladder and pelvic mesh slings and appears in many other non-medical devices.

Some patients who have filed lawsuits argue that polypropylene is not appropriate for long-term implantation as part of a medical device due to problems with it breaking down, degrading, and impacting nearby tissue.

Some of the most common side effects alleged with hernia mesh include bowel obstruction, adhesions, infection, abdominal pain, rashes, and even neurological issues. Lawsuits filed in relation to hernia mesh products allege that the coating on the device causes bad reactions inside the patient’s body and that the makers of these devices could have done more to warn the medical community.

Those patients who have already suffered pain and problems due to the implantation of an allegedly defective umbilical hernia mesh product could be entitled to participate in a class action lawsuit investigation.

The Umbilical Hernia Mesh Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-00445-JJM-PAS, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.