Hernia Mesh

Hernia mesh is a flexible screen, most often made of synthetic material like polypropylene, that a surgeon places over or under a hernia repair to support the weakened muscle wall. Some meshes are permanent, some absorb over time, and some are coated with other materials meant to reduce sticking to organs. Mesh is used in a large share of hernia repairs because it can lower the chance the hernia comes back.

The FDA lists pain, infection, hernia recurrence, adhesions (scar-like tissue that sticks organs together), bowel blockage, and bowel perforation as the most common adverse events after hernia repair, with or without mesh. For repairs that use mesh, the FDA adds that the mesh itself can migrate or shrink (contract), which may be linked to those other complications.

Lawsuits claim certain mesh designs failed at higher rates than they should have, migrated, shrank, broke apart, or caused chronic pain and infections that required removal surgery. Federal courts have grouped these cases into multidistrict litigation by manufacturer. For example, lawsuits over Davol and C.R. Bard polypropylene hernia mesh were centralized as MDL No. 2846 in the Southern District of Ohio after the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation found they shared common questions about alleged defects.

To bring a claim, people generally need the operative report or implant record showing the brand and product, records of the complication, and proof of any revision surgery. See our hernia mesh lawsuit page for current case status, and what an MDL is for how these cases move through the courts.