Lawsuit Filed Over Problems With Kugel, Strattice and Ventralight Hernia Mesh Patches

Following several hernia repair procedures, a New York woman indicates that she has been left with severe and permanent injuries due to design problems associated with several different hernia mesh patches, which were allegedly made of materials that are incompatible with human tissue, according to a recently filed product liability lawsuit. 

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Evelyn Menjivar in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on May 16, indicating that the Composix Kugel Hernia Patch, the Strattice Reconstructive Tissue Matrix and the Bard Ventralight Elipse mesh were all defective, and sold without adequate warnings about the risk that they may cause hernia mesh complications.

Menjivar indicates that she underwent her first surgery in January 2015, involving the Composix Kugel patch, which is manufactured by C.R. Bard and its Bard Davol subsidiary. However, after the hernia mesh failed, resulting in recurrent hernias, she underwent another procedure where she was implanted with the Bard Ventralight mesh and the Strattice Tissue Matrix, which was manufactured by Allergan, Inc. and its LifeCell Corp. subsidiary. However, this led to other adverse events, including scarring, adhesions and chronic abdominal pain.

The lawsuit indicates that the manufacturers knew or should have known that their products were defective and harmful, because they were made of materials that are incompatible with human tissue and often cause negative immune responses.

“The Kugel, Strattice, and Ventralight mesh implants…are marketed to the medical community and to patients as a safe, effective, and reliable medical device, implanted by safe and effective, minimally invasive surgical techniques, and is safer and more effective as compared to other products,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants failed to perform proper and adequate testing and research in order to determine and evaluate the risks and benefits of the Hernia Mesh Products.”

The complaint indicates that the manufacturers failed to provide adequate warnings about risks associated with their product, which were defectively designed and manufactured.

The case joins a growing litigation being pursued against multiple manufacturers involving similar problems with various hernia repair products. In addition to other Kugel and Ventralight 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.