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Hernia mesh, also commonly referred to as surgical mesh, is a medical device that supports the area around a hernia as it heals. While its purpose is to aid in the healing process, studies have shown that hernia mesh frequently fails—some studies have reported hernia mesh failure in up to one in three instances.
The hernia mesh lawyers at The Dixon Injury Firm understand how devastating it is when a medical procedure fails. We are prepared to fight on your behalf to help you receive the justice and compensation you deserve after developing negative and debilitating side effects from defective hernia mesh.
To learn more, give our St. Louis product liability injury accident lawyers a call at (314) 208-2808 or CONTACT us online to schedule a free initial consultation.
Defective Hernia Mesh Complications
Hernia mesh complications often arise due to the materials and practices used to create the mesh. Hernia mesh is often made with a type of plastic known as polypropylene, which is also used to make a variety of other products, such as soda bottles, fishing line, plastic chairs, plastic totes, and other types of non-medical products. Why is polypropylene used in so many different products? Because it is incredibly cheap and easy to manufacture but, unfortunately, that also means it doesn’t always remain in its pre-implantation form for long.
Polypropylene products are known to break down far easier than their more expensive counterparts. What is even more alarming is that hernia meshes that are made with this type of plastic are not meant to be permanently implanted.
Here are some of the side effects associated with the use of a hernia mesh:
- Abdominal Pain: Abdominal pain that occurs after a hernia mesh implantation may be a sign of an issue caused by the hernia mesh, such as a bowel obstruction, nerve damage, or an infection.
- Constipation: If implanted incorrectly, hernia mesh can possibly obstruct bowel movements, which can cause severe constipation.
- Diarrhea: If you experience recurring diarrhea after hernia mesh is implanted, the mesh may be attaching to your bowels.
- Autoimmune Disorders: These disorders may arise from the implantation of a hernia mesh.
- Severe Headache: A severe headache can arise from an infection caused by a hernia mesh.
- Renal Failure: Coated hernia meshes can cause renal failure. The coating is absorbable and can place a huge amount of stress on the liver.
- Abnormal Sweating: Usually, this is a sign of an infection or an autoimmune disease. If you have a mesh implanted and are now experiencing abnormal sweating, see a doctor.
- Meshoma: This occurs when the mesh moves from its original placement or becomes altered. The mesh can contract or bunch up and become a hard, tumor-like mass in your body.
- Rashes: If you’re using a C-Qur V-Patch or a Ventralex ST Patch and are now experiencing rashes, this may be a sign of hernia mesh failure.
- Infection: An infected hernia mesh has to be removed immediately. These types of infections can lead to sepsis, which is life-threatening.
- Pain with Sex: When a mesh is used to repair sexual organs and it malfunctions, it can cause considerable pain during sex.
If you or someone you care for is experiencing these side effects after receiving a hernia mesh implantation, it is important that you seek medical attention immediately. When you are ready to seek justice for your injuries because of the failure of the mesh, our St. Louis hernia mesh attorneys are ready and willing to help.
What Should I Do If I’ve Developed Negative Side Effects After Receiving a Hernia Mesh?
If you’ve developed any of the aforementioned side effects or any other complications after receiving a hernia mesh, it is critically important that you receive medical care right away to correct the issues or have the mesh removed. Your health depends on it.
The companies that made these meshes were well aware of the faults in their designs, but pushed the products anyway so that they could make a quick and easy profit off of innocent people. Not only is this negligent, but it is willfully damaging. These companies were more concerned about their bottom line than your health.
Fortunately, our hernia mesh lawsuit attorneys have experience fighting negligent companies and their insurance companies, as well as their legal defense teams, and are prepared to fight on your behalf to help ensure that you get the recovery and compensation that you deserve.
How Can a Lawyer Help My Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Case?
Medical product companies are massive, powerful corporations that can lobby members of Congress on their behalf to get products like hernia mesh approved by the FDA. Taking on these companies by yourself can be a daunting endeavor, but when you have a hernia mesh lawsuit attorney on your team, you have a better chance of a successful outcome.
The laws regarding the production of medical products, the clinical trials that must be used to prove they are effective and safe, and how the products are marketed can be confusing. This is not an accident. These laws are often purposely complex. When pharmaceutical companies and medical product companies write the laws that are supposed to govern products like hernia mesh, they write the laws so that they are protected from most types of lawsuits and so that they can reap as much profit as possible. The average Missourian will not know these laws and won’t be able to effectively use them to fight a hernia mesh lawsuit case at this level. This is why hiring an experienced lawyer is so important.
The attorneys at The Dixon Injury Firm are prepared to take on massive medical corporations and fight for the justice you deserve. We know the laws and statutes surrounding medical product use, federal approval needed for these products, and the tort laws regarding defective and dangerous medical products. Armed with this information, we can bring the manufacturers of the hernia mesh to heel and fight to hold them responsible for placing innocent consumers in harm’s way.
Product Liability Hernia Mesh FAQs
It is normal to have many questions when dealing with a hernia mesh injury. People want to know how it will affect their lives and how costly the repair and necessary treatment will be. You went into surgery the first time expecting to repair your hernia, only to learn that you have even more severe problems that require additional surgeries and treatment.
At Dixon Injury Firm, we cover all the questions you may have if you find yourself in a product liability situation involving defective hernia mesh. Refer to the following common questions and answers about hernia mesh injuries and legal claims.
How does hernia mesh injure patients?
Hernia mesh reinforces tissue around the hernia, and medical professionals attach it with sutures, staples, or tacks. With time, living tissue grows into the mesh’s pores. This should strengthen the repair. In many cases, however, the mesh causes additional costly – and possibly life-threatening – health problems.
While you thought you were solving one medical issue, the reality was far different. Instead, patients can suffer serious and painful side effects that require costly treatment to repair.
Per FDA guidelines, hernia mesh is safe. Many surgeons use hernia mesh in millions of surgeries every day. In previous decades, about nine in ten hernia surgeries involved mesh. More research suggests it prevents hernias from returning. A recent study, however, shows that complications can offset mesh benefits.
Manufacturers create hernia mesh from synthetic materials or animal tissue. Sometimes they even coat hernia mesh with different materials. These coatings help the body absorb or grow into the mesh. Some people experience serious reactions to these materials, and surgery may be necessary to remove the mesh as soon as possible.
The most common synthetic hernia mesh material is polypropylene. This material is a flexible plastic that bends but eventually returns to its original state. It can stick to internal organs; however, it is stiff enough to puncture organs, causing life-threatening injuries.
These are only a few ways that hernia mesh can cause injuries to trusting patients. No matter how your hernia mesh harmed you or the nature of your side effects and injuries, you should never pay for additional medical treatment, lost income, and other losses.
Discuss your hernia mesh-related injuries with our legal team at Dixon Injury Firm today.
How long after surgery can complications arise?
There are five common complications of hernia mesh surgery. They are pain, infection, recurrence of the hernia, adhesion where the mesh sticks to internal organs, or bowel obstruction. All of these complications may require another surgery to correct.
Depending on the patient, complications can happen immediately after surgery or take years to develop and start to show. Studies demonstrate that complications can occur even years after surgery. However, there is little to no research that looks five years beyond surgery.
Who is liable for hernia mesh injuries?
There are many parties involved during hernia mesh repair. Your doctor will diagnose your hernia and determine if hernia mesh is a good solution for your health condition. However, when the hernia mesh causes injuries, the manufacturing company is usually liable.
Some popular manufacturers of hernia mesh that might face lawsuits include:
- Atrium Medical
- B. Braun Melsungen, AG
- C.R. Bard
- Ethicon
- Gore Medical
- LifeCell Corporation
- Medtronic
These are only some of the most prominent mesh manufacturers, as there are more than 70 types of hernia mesh available on the U.S. medical market. Our lawyers can identify which companies should be liable for your injuries and losses from hernia mesh.
What is the reason behind filing hernia mesh lawsuits?
After suffering painful and costly complications from hernia mesh, many patients have already filed hernia mesh lawsuits. A lawsuit seeks compensation for injuries and losses that the defective hernia mesh caused. Compensation can cover damages like pain and suffering, loss of income, medical expenses, and loss of quality of life.
Another goal of filing a hernia mesh lawsuit is to hold the manufacturer accountable in hopes the company will change its product design or manufacturing procedures to make it safer. You can potentially save others from the same fate of serious injuries by pursuing legal action against the mesh manufacturer.
While there is no requirement to file a lawsuit after hernia mesh injuries, there is no reason not to. You do not want to cover the costs of surgery to remove the mesh, repair damaged organs, or address bowel problems. This treatment is expensive, and the responsibility should be on the manufacturer that produced and sold the dangerous mesh product – not on you as an unsuspecting patient.
If you want to discuss all the benefits of a successful lawsuit, speak with our hernia mesh lawyers in St. Louis today.
What losses can you face after hernia mesh injuries?
Having your initial surgery for mesh implantation is hard enough, but the surgery to remove the mesh or otherwise revise the problem can create worse difficulties. You might already suffer from muscle weakness around the hernia. This makes the problem more challenging for surgeons to repair.
When hernia mesh migrates or disintegrates and intertwines with a muscle, surgeons can struggle to remove it. They also risk further damaging an organ during the removal process. Mesh reversal is more challenging than you might imagine – not to mention that the surgery can cost thousands.
Other issues can arise in addition to medical procedures and costs, including chronic pain from your hernia mesh complications. This pain might reduce your quality and enjoyment of life for some time before you can get revision surgery. Then, you might need another surgery to repair the initial hernia, as the mesh was unsuccessful. You can have pain and suffering while you recover from your subsequent surgeries.
During this process, you may miss significant time at work, losing the income you need to cover your regular expenses and bills.
You deserve to recover compensation for all of your mesh-related losses, including your medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. Our hernia mesh attorneys at Dixon Injury Firm have the same goal for you, and we will do whatever it takes to obtain the compensation you deserve.
Why Choose The Dixon Injury Firm?
Chris Dixon & Greg Motil, St. Louis Hernia Mesh Attorneys
Our attorneys have years of experience litigating defective medical product cases, and we can use the knowledge we’ve built from these cases to successfully combat major medical and pharmaceutical companies. When you choose our hernia mesh lawsuit attorneys, you are choosing a team with a proven success record. To date, we have recovered more than $50 million for our clients .
Most importantly, our attorneys care. We care about our fellow Missourians because when our family members and neighbors are harmed due to the negligent and dangerous acts of pharmaceutical and medical companies, our city and state are harmed too. Our attorneys aggressively pursue hernia mesh cases because our clients deserve nothing less.
Seek a free case evaluation from our St. Louis hernia mesh attorneys today about a possible hernia mesh case.
The Dixon Injury Firm
9666 Olive Blvd #202,
St. Louis, MO 63132
Phone: (314) 208-2808
Client Reviews
I highly recommend Chris Dixon to anyone dealing with a personal injury case. He was there every step of the way, he was prompt and easy to get a hold of at any time during this process. He is very educated and highly skilled in his field and helped me receive the best medical attention possible. If you’re looking for the best personal injury in St. Louis, look no further. Chris Dixon, in my eyes, is the best!
– Ryan B.
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