Pennsylvania Woman Files Hernia Mesh Lawsuit for Injuries Allegedly Caused by C.R. Bard’s Marlex Mesh

Published on November 8, 2017 by Sandy Liebhard

A woman from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has filed a new hernia mesh lawsuit for injuries she claims were caused by C.R. Bard, Inc.’s Marlex Mesh product.

Plaintiff Received Marlex Mesh to Repair Incisional Hernia

According to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, on October 19^th, Caroline Ideluca received a Marlex Mesh implant manufactured by C.R. Bard’s Davol, Inc. subsidiary in 2003 to repair an incisional hernia.

In November 5, 2015, Ideluca presented at the emergency room with severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. A subsequent CT scan revealed a small bowel obstruction and bowel containing ventral hernia. She underwent surgery the following day, at which time it was noted that the bowel was densely adhered to the mesh. The mesh was within the hernia sac and had to be receded off of the abdominal wall.

Removal of 20 cm of ischemic bowel and explant of mesh was performed. Ideluca’s surgeon also performed a bowel resection and excision of the mesh implant. Repair of the incarcerated hernia was also performed and the small bowel was resected.

Lawsuit Alleges Marlex Mesh Harmed Hundreds of People

“It was at the time of the November 6, 2015 explanation of her mesh that Plaintiff learned that Defendants Marlex Mesh was the cause of her continued abdominal pain, nausea and other physical manifestations,” the complaint states.

“At that time, Plaintiff learned that the Marlex Mesh used in the 2003 surgery was potentially defective.”

The lawsuit alleges that C.R. Bard and Davol were aware of hundreds of reports from patients who suffered complications due to Marlex Mesh, and who, in most cases, required eventual excision of the device. It further asserts that the product suffered from numerous defects which created a “high risk of unreasonable and dangerous injuries and side effects with severe permanent adverse health consequences.”

“As a result of having Marlex Mesh implanted in her, Plaintiff has experienced significant physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, has sustained permanent injury and has undergone medical treatment and will likely have to undergo additional surgeries,” the complaint states.

Hernia Mesh Litigation

C.R. Bard and other medical device makers are facing a growing number of hernia mesh lawsuits in courts throughout the nation. In addition to Marlex Mesh, Bard has been named a defendant in cases involving several other hernia mesh devices, including Ventralight ST and Ventralex ST products.

Johnson & Johnson and its Ethicon, Inc. subsidiary are facing dozens of lawsuits involving Physiomesh Flexible Composite mesh, which was withdrawn from the market in March 2016 due to high rates of recurrence and revision. The majority of those claims have been centralized in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia.

A multidistrict litigation has also been established in the U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire, for injury claims involving Atrium Medical’s C-Qur hernia mesh implant.