Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Name:

E-mail:

Phone Number:

Zip Code:

Your Question:

Editor: Bob Binstock, Attorney at Law
Profession: Defective Medical Device Attorney

Category: Mesh Patch Lawsuits

The FDA recall of Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch is almost two years old now and the lawsuits that have been filed on behalf of those injured are moving closer and closer to trial. There are reports that new injuries are still being reported to the FDA's adverse event reporting system. Rhode Island has been selected as the headquarters for all pretrial proceedings, with over 100 cases being consolidated to the Rhode Island Federal District Court. This is the first time that Rhode Island has been selected as consolidation site by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and was the best option as the Davol; the makers of the defective patch are also headquartered in Rhode Island.

The Kugel Mesh Patch was hailed as great advancement in hernia surgery assistance as the design was intended to better support the abdominal wall giving decreasing the likelihood of a recurring injury. The preliminary results of Kugel Mesh use were phenomenal but the luster soon wore off as reports of serious injury began to roll in. The memory recoil ring that was a vital part of the revolutionary product was apparently defective and could cause serious injury and death if it broke. By 2005 the once hailed device was in the midst of a catastrophe as numerous reports of injury surfaced and the FDA issued a Class I Recall on the devices in question.

Shortly thereafter lawsuits were filed on behalf of those injured by the defective device and the same has been there has continued over the time between then and now. The recall has been expanded twice to cover additional sizes and shapes of the devices and in turn prompting more lawsuits. There are still likely more cases to be filed as injury could occur down the road for patients that did not have the device removed.