A new twist has developed in hernia mesh litigation. In early December, a panel of federal judges established a multidistrict litigation to centralize cases against Atrium C-Qur Mesh.

The U.S. District Court for New Hampshire will hear pretrial proceedings for Atrium C-Qur Mesh injury lawsuits.

The hernia mesh litigationcovers a long line of C-Qur mesh products that Atrium sold for use in hernia repair, chest wall reconstruction and treatment of traumatic or surgical wounds.

Specifically, the hernia mesh litigation includes the following products:

• Atrium C-Qur Mesh
• Atrium C-Qur Mosaic
• Atrium C-Qur TacShield
• Atrium C-Qur V-Patch
• Atrium C-Qur Centrifx
• Atrium C-Qur FX Mesh (formerly C-Qur Lite)

The Atrium mesh products all are made of a polypropylene plastic that is coated with Omega-3 fatty acids in the form of fish oil.

Hernia Mesh Litigation Allegations

The lawsuits contend that patients can have allergic reactions to the fish oil coating. An allergic or inflammatory response to the mesh can lead to serious complications.

Reports that the hernia mesh adheres to the bowel raise concerns as well. The affected bowel could become twisted or even perforated, resulting in gastric ulcers or other issues such as intestinal blockages.

Some patients 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 to erode inside the body.

In addition, Atrium is accused of using a chemical to keep the mesh product sterile, but failing to keep the package full of adequate moisture to effectively prevent infection.

This same lack of moisture allows the fish oil coating to lose its adherence to the mesh, creating more problems for the recipient and increasing the chances of a hernia mesh reaction.

Atrium Accused of ‘Stealth Recall’

The hernia mesh litigation contends that Atrium “stealth recalled” many types of mesh products several times by halting production without giving any notice to the FDA, doctors or consumers. The mesh products just quietly went away and were no longer an option.

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 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 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’s intent is to prevent the mesh plastic from direct contact with a patient’s internal organs.

The FDA has obtained reports from doctors who say that protective coating has peeled away from the mesh upon implantation or just days after implantation.

If you have suffered from Atrium C-Qur mesh reactions, infections, gastric ulcers or other hernia mesh issues, you could benefit from speaking with a lawyer regarding hernia mesh litigation options.