Bard Ventralex Lawsuit Claims Hernia Mesh Incompatible With Human Tissue

Davol, Inc. and C.R. Bard face another product liability lawsuit over complications associated with their hernia mesh products, alleging that that the Bard Ventralex mesh is not compatible with human tissue. 

In a complaint (PDF) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on January 2, Patrick Dove alleges that the manufacturers sold a defective product that was not suitable for use during hernia repair surgery.

Dove under went hernia surgery in March 2014, at which time an 8 cm circular Bard Ventralex patch was implanted in his body. However, complications and severe pain with the hernia mesh led to him requiring additional revision surgery in June 2017.

The Bard Ventralex is a self-expanding patch that contains two layers of polypropylene mesh, which are stitched together with polytetrafluorethylene monofilament to an expanded polytetrafluorethylene sheet. The lawsuit raises allegations similar to those presented in a growing number of other product liability complaints, indicating that the layers have a tendency to delaminate, resulting in “folding, shriveling, curling up on edges and generally causing a separation of layers of the patch.”

“The Bard Ventralex mesh was actually made of materials, which are biologically incompatible with human tissue and react negatively and sometimes dangerously with a large number of those on whom it is used,” Dove’s lawsuit states. “Defendant knew or should have known that their product was unreasonably harmful.”

Dove’s lawsuit presents claims of negligence, design defect, manufacturing defect and breach of warranty.

The case is part of a growing number of hernia mesh lawsuits being filed in courts nationwide against manufacturers of various devices introduced in recent years, which have been linked to reports of painful and debilitating complications.

In addition to a number of other Bard Ventralex lawsuits, a particularly large number of Atrium C-Qur lawsuits and Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits, leading to the federal court system to establish centralized pre-trial proceedings for all litigation involving those two products.

As product liability lawyers continue to review and file additional cases over Bard Ventralex problems, it is possible that another multidistrict litigation (MDL) will be established for all claims filed against C.R. Bard and it’s Davol subsidiary.