Covidien Parietex Mesh Failed and Became Infected After Hernia Repair, Lawsuit Alleges

The Covidien Parietex Mesh was found to be the source of an infected abscess of the plaintiff’s groin and had to be surgically removed.

According to allegations raised in a recently filed product liability lawsuit, a North Carolina man suffered complications with Covidien Parietex hernia mesh, which failed and became infected due to a defective and unreasonably dangerous design.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Jason Wilson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on January 25, pursuing claims against the manufacturer Covidien and its parent company, Medtronic, as well as Tyco International, Surgical Solutions Group, Unites States Surgical Corp., and Sofradim Production SAS.

Covidien Parietex is a two-sided surgical mesh, which has been commonly used in recent years during certain ventral hernia repair procedures. The composite mesh is coated with a protective, absorbable collagen barrier that is intended to prevent tissue attachment. However, the lawsuit alleges this barrier and other design elements actually result in a high rate of failure and hernia mesh complications.

According to allegations raised in the Covidien Parietex mesh lawsuit, the product was defective due to high rates of failure, injury and complications reported by individuals nationwide, indicating that the hernia mesh fails to perform as intended and requires frequent and often debilitating re-operations.

Wilson indicates that he received a a Covidien 6×4 inch Parietex Mesh during a right inguinal hernia repair in November 2017. However, two years later, in November 2019, a surgeon conducted an exploratory laparotomy on Wilson due to an abscess of the groin. At that time, the surgeon discovered the Parietex mesh was infected and removed it.

“Due to the defects of the Device as described throughout this Complaint, Plaintiff has suffered extensive pain, infections, bowel problems, and intervention surgery to repair Defendants’ Hernia Mesh Device and continues to suffer pain and ongoing complications. Plaintiff’s injuries are severe and permanent in nature,” the lawsuit states. “At the time of the operation, Plaintiff was not informed of, and had no knowledge of the complaints, known complications and risks associated with the Hernia Mesh Device.”

The complaint raises claims similar to those presented in a number of other Covidien Parietex hernia mesh lawsuits being pursued by individuals who have experienced problems associated with the design.

In addition to claims over problems with Parietex mesh, there are also a number of similar allegations being raised in complaints filed over other hernia repair products sold over the past decade, including Bard hernia mesh lawsuits, Atrium C-Qur lawsuits and Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits.

Claims involving each of those hernia mesh products have since been consolidated in the federal court system, as part of different multidistrict litigations (MDLs). However, there are currently no consolidated pretrial proceedings established for lawsuits over Covidien Parietex mesh failures.