Thousands of patients across the country are filing hernia mesh injury lawsuits against the makers of some of the industry’s most popular hernia mesh claiming the product caused serious injuries, including death after the product failed. While hernia mesh and similar medical devices are supposed to help patients live a more comfortable life, these medical products have a long history of failure and causing severe harm to patients.
The Washington DC hernia mesh lawyers at The Cochran Firm, DC are currently investigating claims on behalf of patients injured by various hernia mesh manufacturers. If you or a loved one suffered complications from a hernia mesh, contact our office for a free legal consultation about your case. You could be entitled to substantial compensation for your injuries.
Hernia mesh lawsuits claim the medical devices were defectively designed and manufactured and that the makers knew about these concerns but put these products on the market anyways. A hernia is a serious medical condition where the patient's bowels or other organs break through abdominal openings. The condition is extremely painful, and often times the only treatment is surgery and the installation of one of these mesh products.
Side effects of defective hernia mesh include:
Some lawsuits also claim hernia mesh manufacturers have been marketing their products to doctors to unnecessarily treat minor conditions where sutures and stitches would be more appropriate and less prone to complications. Many claims allege the surgical hernia mesh shrank or moved after surgery, causing tears and obstructions to surrounding organs.
All surgeries, including those to treat hernias, come with inherent risks or side effects. Most of the time, relatively minor complications like post-surgical pain or swelling subsides after a few days, and patients move along in their recovery progress. However, if the surgery involved a defectively designed hernia mesh product, the possibility of a serious adverse medical event increases.
If you or a loved one had surgery and are experiencing the following symptoms, you may be dealing with a defectively designed hernia and should immediately consult with your treating physician. Hernia mesh injuries include:
In serious hernia mesh injury cases, the mesh can move or shrink to the the point where the device perforates the patient’s bowels or other nearby internal organs. Sadly, these types of injuries can result in catastrophic events, including death, if not detected soon enough.
While we expect the medical devices available to us on the market to the properly designed and thoroughly tested, the sad truth is that many medical device manufacturers hide or manipulate data to make their products look safer than they really are. By stepping forward and filing a hernia mesh injury lawsuit, victims can help uncover the truth of what these companies really knew about their dangerous and defective medical products.
Hernias are caused by abdominal pressure forcing organs or fatty tissue through openings in the abdominal wall. The type of pressure necessary to force hernias can occur from lifting weights, diarrhea, constipation, chronic coughing, and pregnancy. Every year, doctors perform over one million hernia surgeries on patients, many utilizing hernia meshes to reinforce weak areas in the patient’s abdominal wall.
Several types of hernias are available on the market, with most being made from synthetic materials or animal tissue. Many types of hernia mesh are designed with layers that are supposed to be absorbed by the body over time. However, many patients experience serious complications because the product manufacturer failed to conduct extensive enough testing to ensure safety.
However, investigations suggest that hernia mesh makers may be marketing their products for surgeries where traditional sutures would be more appropriate and less prone to complications like infection and additional surgery. Cases like these are another classic example of corporate greed hurting ordinary people looking to get well.
Depending on the circumstances of your case, you could be entitled to substantial compensation for a variety of damages. Many patients suffered from chronic pain and required additional surgeries to treat their condition. As a result, many incurred substantial medical bills and lost wages while recovering from surgery.
While rare, some courts may also see fit to hand down awards for punitive damages. These types of awards are meant to punish the defendant if the plaintiff proves the other side acted with malice or intent to cause harm.
