Plaintiff Jon K. is the latest patient to argue that hernia repair with mesh comes with significant consequences and side effects that were not properly disclosed to the public.

Jon says that he suffered severe injuries because of Proceed surgical mesh, also known as the Ethicon multilayered hernia mesh. He alleges that there was an unreasonable risk of adhesion formation, pain, bowel complications, hernia recurrence, infection, and dense adhesion formation with the Ethicon multi-layered hernia mesh, that it was defective, and that the manufacturers knew.

He argues that the defendants failed to disclose the high-risk profile to the medical community and possible patients, leaving them instead to suffer the consequences.

Jon says that he underwent hernia repair with mesh on Nov. 2, 2010 in Wisconsin.

Like many other patients who have taken legal action against hernia mesh manufacturers, Jon says the issues are allegedly due to the makeup of the product. For example, according to Jon’s lawsuit, the multiple layers of the Ethicon multi-layered hernia mesh increase the duration and intensity of the body’s inflammatory response to the product. This enhanced response is allegedly due to the polypropylene material used to manufacture the mesh.

The lawsuit also argues that the defendants have continued to market the hernia mesh without warning patients about the risk of severe shrinkage or necessary overlap required to prevent early hernia recurrence. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants were aware that some of the layers of the hernia mesh were ineffective at preventing polypropylene adhesions and that the multi-layered mesh could contract over a period of time.

Those individuals who have experienced problems with their hernia mesh are encouraged to report these through the FDA’s adverse event reporting system.

The FDA requests specifics about the hernia mesh such as the date of implant, the catalog number, lot number, size, manufacturer’s name, product name, date of explant, the preoperative diagnosis and mesh placement, and a description of the problem.

According to the FDA, there are several different treatment options available to people who develop hernias. These include watchful waiting, such as your surgeon keeping an eye on it and making sure that it does not get any bigger or cause problems.

Surgical options for hernia treatment include open repair or laparoscopic surgery. In open repair, the surgeon makes an incision close to the hernia in an effort to address weak tissues in the muscle. This can be done without or with surgical mesh. Laparoscopic surgery, however, requires several small incisions in the patient’s abdomen that allows surgical tools that fit into the openings to repair the hernia.

The Hernia Mesh Lawsuit is Case No. 3:19-cv-00546-FLW-DEA in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Middlesex County.