List of hernia mesh products that are the subjects of lawsuits

Defective hernia mesh products that are the subjects of lawsuits can be identified by their product number. If you have received a hernia mesh implant and suffered chronic pain or other medical complications, you can turn to your medical records to find which type and model of mesh you received. The following listing of hernia mesh product numbers will tell you if your implant is the subject of the hernia mesh lawsuits currently working their way through the court system.

• 1. Hernia mesh implant companies, product lines, models, and products
• 2. Atrium / Maquet / Getinge
• 3. Bard / Davol
• 4. Covidien / Medtronic
• 5. Ethicon / Johnson & Johnson
• 6. Gore

1. Hernia mesh implant companies, product lines, models, and products

There are several medical device companies that manufacture hernia mesh products. These companies include:

• Atrium Medical Corp., a subsidiary of the Swedish multinational company Getinge Group and associated with the German company Maquet,
• C.R. Bard, or simply Bard, and its subsidiary Davol,
• Covidien, a subsidiary of Medtronic,
• Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and
• W.L. Gore & Associates, or simply Gore.

Each company produces hernia mesh products that it often arranges into product lines, each of which is a series of fundamentally similar implants. For example, many companies have designed a product line of hernia mesh implants that focuses on not adhering to tissues and organs behind the implant:

• Atrium’s C-Qur brand of hernia mesh implants is lined with Omega 3, a fatty acid that is designed to keep the implant from sticking to unwanted tissues and organs,
• Ethicon’s Physiomesh brand of implants is composed of five layers of polypropylene, polydioxanone, and polyglecaprone-25 to prevent this from happening, and
• Covidien’s Symbotex hernia mesh implant is lined with collagen on the backside to prevent unwanted adhesion.

Each product line can be broken down into different models, which focus on smaller details of each procedure. For example:

• Atrium’s ProLite Mesh Ultra model is thinner than the basic ProLite Mesh model, making it a better fit for laparoscopic procedures, and
• Gore’s DualMesh Plus has antimicrobial preservatives that the basic DualMesh model does not have, making it useful for procedures or patients that carry a higher risk of infection.

Finally, models can come in different sizes or even different shapes for certain hernia procedures. Each of these variations comes with its own product number. For example:

• All of Bard’s Modified Kugel models that are circular shaped, have straps, and are 10 centimeters in diameter have the product number 0115810, and
• All of the implants in Ethicon’s Proceed Mesh model that are shaped like a square with 15-centimeter sides have a product number of PCDM1.

The product number should not be confused with a model’s lot number. Lot numbers refer to particular batches of hernia mesh products that were manufactured and sent out from the factory. Every package of hernia mesh device in a model, or sometimes every single implant in the model, has its own unique lot number.

2. Atrium / Maquet / Getinge

Atrium is one of the major manufacturers of hernia mesh devices. However, its leading line of hernia mesh implants – the C-Qur product line – has been rife with problems and defects.

In an attempt to prevent the polypropylene in its hernia mesh implants from adhering to unwanted tissues and creating serious medical problems, Atrium lined the implants with Omega 3, a fatty acid found in fish oil. However, the Omega 3 created a host of other medical complications, including infections and allergic reactions. The Omega 3 lining also failed to keep the implant from adhering to unwanted muscles, tissues, and organs.

As a result, a huge portion of the C-Qur hernia mesh product line is currently subject to litigation:

Additionally, the following models and product numbers have had numerous problems and caused patients to get hurt. They might be the subject of litigation in the future:

So many lawsuits have been filed against Atrium over its defective hernia mesh devices that courts have had to take action to streamline the compensation process. In December, 2016, they formed a multidistrict litigation, or an MDL, to consolidate all of the hernia mesh lawsuits against Atrium into one court for pretrial purposes.¹

As of May 15, 2019, there were 1,329 lawsuits consolidated in this MDL.²

3. Bard / Davol

Bard manufactures a considerable portion of the hernia mesh implants that have been used in the past years. Unlike other hernia mesh manufacturers, Bard does not use strict product lines for its products. Instead, Bard’s hernia mesh products use model names that indicate the style of the patch and the procedure it is designed to be used in.

The most problematic and defective of Bard’s hernia mesh products include:

Additionally, the following models of Bard’s hernia mesh products may become the subject of litigation in the near future:

Both the prevalence and the designs of Bard’s hernia mesh devices have led to thousands of lawsuits against the company. The sheer volume of these legal claims for compensation has forced the court system to create an MDL for Bard. This MDL was created in the Southern District of Ohio, and contained 1,662 lawsuits on May 15, 2019.³

4. Covidien / Medtronic

Covidien’s first hernia mesh product was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1999. Since then, the majority of Covidien’s hernia mesh implants – as well as most of the company’s sales for hernia mesh devices – have come from its Parietex and Parietene lines.

However, those product lines, along with others made by Covidien, have hurt thousands of patients in the U.S. over the years. Lawsuits have been filed against Covidien for injuries caused by the following devices:

Hundreds of people have been hurt by Covidien’s hernia mesh implants. However, not enough lawsuits have been filed to create an MDL against Covidien. Instead, claims for compensation have been filed individually across the country.

5. Ethicon / Johnson & Johnson

Ethicon is another large manufacturer of hernia mesh products. Just like other companies, though, its hernia mesh designs have been prone to failure and can cause patients to suffer chronic pain or other medical complications:

Additionally, some other Ethicon hernia mesh products could be the subject of lawsuits in the future:

One of Ethicon’s most popular product lines, the Physiomesh, has proven especially prone to failure. On June 2, 2017, the court system created an entire multidistrict litigation for lawsuits against Ethicon for injuries caused by the Physiomesh line of products.⁴ Since the creation of the MDL, it has been expanded to include other Ethicon hernia implants, as well.

The MDL is being heard by the Northern District of Georgia. On May 15, 2019, it had 2,017 lawsuits in it.⁵

6. Gore

Gore’s hernia mesh products were first approved by the FDA in 1995. They are made of Gore-Tex, a trademarked chemical composition of ePTFE.

As surgeons became aware that Gore-Tex hernia mesh implants had a tendency to cause an infection, they have moved to other devices. Nevertheless, many of Gore’s hernia mesh implants continue to be used, and many of the people who have had a hernia repair procedure during Gore’s more popular days can still have the implant inside of them.

While lawsuits against Gore for injuries caused by its hernia mesh products are not common enough to warrant a multidistrict litigation, that does not mean that victims cannot file a lawsuit and recover the compensation they need. It just means that the lawsuit would proceed on an individual basis, and would not get consolidated with other similar claims against Gore.

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