Another Kugel Mesh Lawsuit Filed

Akron, OHAnother lawsuit has been filed against Davol Inc., regarding the company's Kugel Mesh Patch. The lawsuit was filed in May and alleges a man died because of a defective hernia repair patch.

The man, Richard Kinney, had surgery in October 2003 to repair a hernia. On January 31, 2004 he was admitted to a hospital with a bowel obstruction at the hernia repair site. Three surgeries were performed in an attempt to help Kinney, including the removal of his small bowel and spleen. However, despite the surgeries the man died.

Kinney's death occurred a year before Davol recalled some of its Kugel Mesh Patches and did not involve any of the patches that were recalled. Despite this, the lawsuit claims that Davol knew of a problem with the memory ring component of its patches, including patches that were not recalled.

A different lawsuit was filed late last year alleging that a defective Kugel Mesh Patch failed after a product recall, causing the patient severe pain and requiring another surgery to remove the patch. A portion of the failed patch had stuck to the patient's bowel.

The FDA has received reports of at least 80 injuries related to the Kugel Mesh Patch, including several reports of death.

Kugel Mesh Patches were used to repair ventral hernias. Unfortunately, the memory recoil ring component of the patch can break under certain stress, in some cases migrating into other areas of the body. The Kugel Mesh Patch is under a Class 1 recall because defects in the patch can cause adverse health consequences including bowel perforations, chronic intestinal fistulae, and in some cases death.

Some people may not realize that the Kugel Mesh Patch was used in their surgery. Sometimes, problems such as high fevers and nausea are simply attributed to post-surgery infections and are therefore not acted on immediately.

If you have had hernia surgery and suffer from adverse side effects from that surgery, contact your doctor to find out if you had the Kugel Mesh Patch implanted. If your doctor used the Kugel Mesh Patch and you notice any abnormal lumps, pain, or tenderness at the site of the surgery, or if you develop unexplained fever or abdominal pain, seek medical attention to discuss your options.