Alloderm Hernia Mesh Lawsuits Moving Forward in N.J. State Court

The number of lawsuits filed over the AlloDerm hernia patch continue to increase as the litigation moves forward in New Jersey state court.

According to a case list issued last week, there are currently more than 150 AlloDerm lawsuits that are centralized for pretrial proceedings in the Superior Court for Middlesex County, and a case management conference is scheduled for next week, on July 10.

The complaints have been filed on behalf of individuals throughout the United States who suffered serious and painful complications from the AlloDerm patch, after it was used for a hernia repair or abdominal reconstructive surgery.

Originally introduced in the early 1990s, the AlloDerm Regenerative Tissue Matrix is a skin graft product that is manufactured from tissue harvested from cadavers, which is stripped of the original cells to ensure that recipients do not reject it.

While AlloDerm was originally introduced by LifeCell Corporation for use with burn victims during plastic surgery and for dental procedures, the manufacturer has also promoted the patch for hernia surgery and abdominal repairs.

According to allegations raised in the AlloDerm hernia repair lawsuits, when the patch is used in the abdomen it must be “pre-stretched” to keep it from expanding over time. However, LifeCell allegedly failed to adequately warn doctors about this risk, which could cause abdominal deformity, pain, disability and hernia recurrence.

LifeCell initiated a silent recall of AlloDerm for use in hernia repair surgeries, according to the master complaint filed in New Jersey. LifeCell no longer advertises, promotes or markets AlloDerm for use during hernia or abdominal surgery, and plaintiffs allege that the product was never safe or suitable for such uses due to its elasticity.

Although AlloDerm had been on the market since about 1992, LifeCell did not inform surgeons that it could stretch by up to 50% until 2008. In May 2011, the company instructed surgeons to suture AlloDerm under significant tension in order to reduce its ability to stretch as much as possible.

AlloDerm was the first commercial product sold by LifeCell, and grew to generate more than $167 million in revenue for the company in 2007. It has been used in more than one million grafts and implants. For hernia repair, LifeCell now promotes the use of Strattice Reconstructive Tissue Matrix, a surgical mesh made using pig skin.