Kugel Mesh Lawsuits Building Up

Cranston, RIIn response to the serious complications caused by broken Kugel Mesh Patches, patients are filing lawsuits against Davol Inc., the patch's maker. The lawsuits allege that the Kugel Mesh Patches are defective, cause serious complications, and often require further surgery to repair injuries. Furthermore, plaintiffs are alleging that Davol knew about problems with the Kugel Mesh Patch but did not properly warn physicians and patients.

In July, another lawsuit was filed against Davol, alleging the company's Kugel Mesh Patch seriously injured a hernia patient. The plaintiff claims that the patch was defective and malfunctioned, causing her nerve damage. According to the lawsuit the plaintiff required further expensive surgeries to have the patch removed. The suit seeks "fair and reasonable damages."

Some of the complications that patients who had a defective Kugel Mesh Patch have experienced include bowel perforations, bowel obstructions, and chronic enteric fistulas.

Bowel perforations are openings in the intestinal wall that allow contents of the bowel to flow into the abdominal cavity. This can lead to bacterial contamination of the abdominal cavity. Side effects include fever, abdominal pain that intensifies when the patient moves, nausea, and in extreme cases, sepsis. In many instances, bowel perforations require surgical intervention.

Bowel obstruction occurs when a partial or complete blockage of the intestines does not allow contents of the intestines to pass through properly. Symptoms include abdominal pain, constipation, vomiting, and diarrhea. If left untreated, small bowel obstructions can be fatal.

Chronic enteric fistulas are abnormal connections between the intestines and other organs that can lead to a build up of bowel contents in the cavity. They can also cause abscesses or infections that can spread to the bloodstream. One of the patients who developed chronic enteric fistulas as a result of a defective Kugel Mesh Patch died of septic shock and a heart attack after surgery was performed to repair the fistulas.

Not all serious complications from the Kugel Mesh Patch occur immediately following surgery. In some cases, patients did not begin experiencing symptoms until over a year from the time the patch was implanted. Some patients were injured when broken pieces of the Kugel Mesh Patch adhered to their bowels, resulting in bowel dissection to remove the mesh from the bowels.

Reports are coming out that Davol knew about problems with the Kugel Mesh Patch well before the company actually issued a recall. The FDA has accused Davol officials of understating the severity of complications associated with defective patches and of not having a consistent system for tracking complaints.