Bard Composix Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Filed Over Intraabdominal Abscess Injury

C.R. Bard faces a new product liability lawsuit over problems with Composix hernia mesh, which a woman alleges caused her to suffer a large intraabdominal abscess and severe abdominal pain. 

The complaint (PDF) was filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida by Judith Woodbury, who received a Bard Composix Mesh in December 1998 for hernia repair.

As a result of hernia mesh complications allegedly caused by the product, Woodbury indicates that she was hospitalized due to a large intraabdominal abscess in October 2014, after the mesh perforated her small intestines. She required surgery to remove the mesh, and a large section of her small intestine was resected.

Bard has previously faced similar lawsuits over Kugel Composix mesh, agreeing to pay to settle about 3,000 cases brought on behalf of individuals who filed complaints.

This new case comes as a number of different hernia repair products implanted in more recent years have been linked to high rates of problems and complications.

Over the past year, a growing number of Atrium C-Qur mesh lawsuits have been filed in courts nationwide, each involving allegations that the manufacturer failed to investigate or review complaints involving hernia failures and infections that may be caused by design problems. Pronounced “Secure”, Atrium C-Qur mesh was approved by the FDA on March 2006, for use in hernia repair, chest wall reconstruction and to repair traumatic or surgical wounds. In October 2012, the FDA issued a warning letter to Atrium, citing the company for failing to respond to complaints about the C-QUR mesh and other products.

More recently, an Ethicon Physiomesh recall was issued earlier this year in several countries after foreign registries uncovered a high number of complications among individuals who received the hernia repair product. While the action was classified as a “market withdrawal” in the United States, Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon subsidiary has indicated that it has no intentions of returning the product to the market, after it was unable to identify the cause of the complications.

A number of individuals who had the hernia mesh implanted in their body are now pursuing an Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuit, alleging that severe and painful complications may have been avoided if the manufacturer had adequately tested and researched the product. Several of the complaints suggest that the problems may stem from the use of materials that are not inert and that react to human tissues, causing infections and increasing the risk that the hernia mesh migrates from the implant site to other parts of the body. Claims also indicate the mesh fails to perform and can abrade human tissue.

Woodbury presents claims against C.R. Bard for negligence, design defect, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, and breach of warranty over problems with the Composix hernia mesh, seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.