Hernia Patch Biologically Incompatible With Human Body, Lawsuit Claims

In a recently filed product liability lawsuit filed over Bard’s Kugel hernia mesh products, a Virginia man alleges that the surgical patch is made of materials that incompatible with the human body, resulting in painful injuries and complications.

The complaint (PDF) was filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by William Owens and his wife, Shelie.

Owens indicates that C.R. Bard knew or should have known that their hernia patch was unreasonably harmful and defective, pointing to scientific evidence that demonstrates the mesh often causes a negative immune response in patients.

According the lawsuit, Owens states that a Bard Kugel patch was implanted during a procedure to treat a ventral hernia in May 2014. However, he continued to experience chronic abdominal pain, suffered several infections and experienced fluid draining from the umbilicus.

In September 2016, due to complications with the hernia mesh, Owens indicates that it had to be surgically removed from his body.

“The Product was 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,” the lawsuit states. “The scientific evidence Defendant knew or should have known of demonstrates that the mesh is incompatible with human tissue and often causes a negative immune response in patients implanted with the Product, including Plaintiff.”

In recent years, Bard and Davol have faced thousands of Composix Kugel hernia mesh lawsuits over problems with the products, most involving allegations that a memory recoil ring around the perimeter of the mesh broke, resulting in serious internal injuries.

In 2011, C.R. Bard agreed to Kugel patch settlements that resolved about 2,600 cases, paying about $70,000 to each plaintiff. However, the agreement left hundreds of claims unsettled, and individuals with the recalled hernia mesh implanted in their body continue to experience problems when the hernia mesh fails.

The case joins a growing litigation being pursued against multiple manufacturers involving similar problems with various hernia repair products. In addition to other Kugel mesh lawsuits, there are also a number of Bard hernia mesh lawsuits, Atrium C-Qur lawsuits and Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits pending nationwide, leading to the federal court system to establish centralized pre-trial proceedings for litigation involving those products.