Kugel Mesh Victim Says She Would Rather Live with a Hernia

Muskogee, OKMary wishes she never had a Kugel Mesh patch implanted to treat a hernia. In fact, she would rather live with a hernia than the Composix Kugel Mesh patch.

Back in 2006, Mary had a hiatal hernia protruding from the upper part of her stomach. She had surgery with the Kugel mesh but within a few weeks of recovery she was back to the surgeon.

“I first heard a popping sound that seemed to come from deep within my stomach but my doctor just said ‘we will keep an eye on it,’ meaning nothing will get done,” Mary says. “Soon after that I could see that the hernia was coming back. And I had a lot of stomach problems: I was going to the bathroom a lot due to bowel problems. And I kept getting urinary tract infections. I was getting sicker and sicker.”

Three months later, Mary had another surgery - this time it was major surgery. The Kugel Mesh had slipped into her intestines, stomach and colon and the surgeon had to cut it out. “During that recovery I developed an infection in my stomach where the wound wouldn’t heal,” Mary explains. This time she was in the hospital for several days. “The wound lay open and the nurses just washed it with saline packs several times a day. It was scary.”

Mary, age 58, never did fully recover. And she couldn’t continue her job as cook in a penitentiary. She is now on disability.

To this day, Mary says she still has bowel problems and stomach bloating. “It is hard to describe, but an area in my stomach feels like a rubber band has been pulled and snapped it,” she explains. “I have never been the same since the first surgery and I think it is a combination of this mesh product and medical malpractice. I’m afraid to lift anything and a lot of things in my life have changed, including sex. It is too uncomfortable. I tried to eat a Thanksgiving meal and felt full after just a few bites.”

To make matters worse, Mary had the surgery in California, so she has to find another surgeon in Oklahoma. But she did manage to get her medical records and determine that indeed she did have a Composix Kugel Mesh Patch made by Bard.

“I recently received all the medical reports because I want to pursue a Kugel mesh claim,” Mary says. She found out about the Kugel mesh side effects in a roundabout way.

“I saw reports on television about transvaginal mesh and that got me wondering about this hernia mesh,” Mary adds. “I started to read online about Kugel Mesh lawsuits and people who had the mesh removed. I have the same problems, the same symptoms. So now I am under my general doctor’s care and just waiting for insurance. Next up, I will go to a specialist and hopefully a Kugel Mesh attorney.”

Twenty-four women filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of Kugel mesh products, alleging they suffered serious injuries from defects with the mesh. The lawsuit was filed against C. R. Bard Inc. on Sept. 27, 2013 in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division.

Bard is accused of negligence in connection with the design, development, manufacture, testing, packaging, promotion, marketing, distribution, labeling and/or sale of hernia mesh products, including the Composix Kugel Hernia Patch, the Composix E/X Hernia Patch, the Composix L/P Hernia Patch and the Ventralex Hernia Patch. Further, Bard has also been accused of failing to warn, breach of express warranty and breach of implied warranty.