People filed hernia mesh lawsuits because of complications from defective mesh implants, including chronic pain, infections and organ damage. Individuals who had hernia repair surgery with mesh implants after January 1, 2006 and later suffered injuries may be eligible to file a lawsuit.
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Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Overview
There are 26,295 hernia mesh lawsuits pending, and lawyers are still accepting cases on behalf of people hurt by hernia mesh implants in January 2025. Lawsuits say hernia mesh manufacturers knew that their mesh implants were defective, but they continued to sell them and failed to warn the public.
People who experienced hernia mesh complications such as mesh migration, infection, hernia recurrence, hernia mesh failure and adhesions may file a hernia mesh lawsuit for potential compensation.
Hernia mesh lawsuit allegations include:
Defective Design
Manufacturing Defects
Failure to Warn About Injuries
Judges consolidated hernia mesh lawsuits from across the country into four multidistrict litigations, also known as MDLs. One judge in a single court oversees each hernia mesh MDL for each hernia mesh manufacturer, and this process is meant to save time and resources. In some cases, plaintiffs may file their claims in state courts outside an MDL.
Drugwatch’s legal partners have decades of experience fighting to get compensation for people across the country who were injured by the negligence of large medical device companies. We work with Guardian Legal Group, LLC, which helps plaintiffs acquire the resources they need to seek justice. This group connects people with lawyers and spreads awareness of potentially dangerous medical devices.
On this page, we provide hernia mesh litigation updates, information on settlements and jury verdicts, and quick and easy access to experienced hernia mesh lawyers who can evaluate your case for free.
Am I Eligible To File a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit?
You may be eligible to file a hernia mesh lawsuit if you had hernia repair surgery with mesh and experienced serious complications.
Contact an attorney right away for a free case evaluation and file your lawsuit before the legal time limit to file runs out. Law firms have requirements that people must meet before the firm takes the case. We’ve listed general hernia mesh lawsuit qualifications below.
Attorney Daniel Nigh details who is eligible to make a hernia mesh claim.
Complications From Defective Hernia Mesh Implants Led to Lawsuits
Before you speak to a lawyer, make sure you know the brand and manufacturer of your mesh implant. Your medical records should list this information. If you can’t get your records or don’t know the brand of your mesh, a lawyer can help you.
Drugwatch partners with trusted law firms to help you take legal action. After submitting the form, one of Drugwatch's partners will contact you for a free case review.
People who filed hernia mesh lawsuits had hernia mesh complications so severe they needed at least one additional surgery. Many claimed they still had complications even after extra surgeries.
Surgeons have used hernia mesh to repair hernias since the late 1950s. Mesh is a synthetic material that provides support for damaged tissues. Surgeons, in one article published in the British Medical Journal, think the rate of hernia mesh complications is between 12% and 30%.
Hernia mesh lawsuit complications include:
Adhesion
Mesh implant sticks to other organs and tissue.
Bowel Obstruction:
The hernia mesh sticks to the intestines or moves around in the body, blocking the bowel.
Delayed or Long-Term Complications:
Chronic pain, adhesions or hernia recurrence may occur years after the original surgery.
Groin or Testicular Pain:
A burning sensation at the surgery site caused by pinched nerves after hernia mesh surgery.
Hernia Recurrence:
The hernia may return if the mesh fails. It's a common complication of hernia surgery.
The implant causes problems, such as pain and hernia recurrence, and must be removed.
Migration:
Hernia mesh moves from the initial surgery site to other parts of the body.
Pain:
If pain lasts months or years after hernia mesh surgery, it may lead to nerve damage or chronic inflammation.
Perforation of Organs or Tissues:
The hernia mesh punctures other body parts during migration.
Revision Surgery:
One or more surgeries are needed, depending on the severity of complications, to remove faulty hernia mesh.
Seromas:
Pockets of fluid buildup around the surgery site.
Hernia mesh complications and side effects can happen years after the initial surgery. If you’ve experienced hernia mesh complications and your doctor recommended revision surgery, you may be able to file a hernia mesh lawsuit.
Beyond Side Effects: Nancy’s Hernia Mesh Patient Story
Nancy Patterson had been looking forward to a week-long family trip to spend time with five generations of her family. When she started feeling nauseated, weak and couldn’t eat, her daughter Shelly suspected a stomach bug.
However, Nancy’s symptoms got worse. She suffered from severe abdominal pain and vomiting and she still couldn’t eat. Shelly rushed her mom to the hospital, where doctors found the hernia mesh from a hernia repair years ago had balled up and blocked her bowel.
Bowel obstruction is a life-threatening complication, and surgeons performed two emergency surgeries to remove the mesh and save Nancy’s life. The family is now considering a lawsuit against mesh manufacturers.
Hernia mesh litigation is still going strong in 2025. Despite several settlements and jury verdicts, lawyers continue to accept cases.
“Ethicon Physiomesh cases are settled, but it wasn’t a global settlement. There have been millions of dollars in confidential settlements in the Bard litigation, but it’s still going. Covidien is still going. Lawyers are still signing these cases,” noted Trent Miracle, a trial attorney and pharmaceutical litigation expert with the law firm Flint Cooper.
“Ethicon Physiomesh cases are settled, but it wasn’t a global settlement. There have been millions of dollars in confidential settlements in the Bard litigation, but it’s still going. Covidien is still going. Lawyers are still signing these cases.”
Hernia mesh litigation has been ongoing for years. The first trial ended in 2021, and there have been several updates since then.
Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Updates from 2025 and 2024
January 16, 2025: Covidien Hernia Mesh Lawsuits Take Center Stage
The Covidien MDL seems to be getting a bit more visibility after Bard reached a settlement agreement last year. Some attorneys think that Covidien cases will yield higher settlement amounts than Bard cases because of the plaintiffs' injuries and product defect claims. But it’s too early to tell, and settlements are never guaranteed.
Last month, Judge M. Page Kelly issued Case Management Order 15, which outlines the pre-trial deadlines and dates for 2025. The first bellwether trials could come in early 2026.
There are more than 26,000 hernia mesh lawsuits still pending in the various MDLs.
December 16, 2024: Order to Create Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Settlement Fund for Bard Lawsuits
After years of litigation, people injured by Bard’s hernia mesh finally get a settlement fund. The judge in charge of Bard’s hernia mesh MDL submitted Case Management Order 56 to establish a qualified settlement fund. People who filed a hernia mesh lawsuit against Bard and qualify for a settlement may receive money from the fund. However, the amount plaintiffs will receive varies based on factors outlined in the settlement agreement. Make sure you speak to your lawyer to see how this applies to you.
While no exact figure was announced, some lawyers estimate total settlement payouts could be close to $1 billion based on Bard’s financial reports. About 38,000 cases are included in the settlement.
November 27, 2024: Special Masters in Bard Settlement Process Appointed
Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. issued Case Management Order 55, appointing two special masters in the Bard multidistrict litigation (MDL 2846) to handle the settlement process. Special Masters Ellen K. Reisman and John Jackson will oversee running the settlement process until there are no more claimants. Their duties will include settlement supervision, oversight and mediation.
November 15, 2024: Covidien Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Numbers Climb to 1,546 in Massachusetts Court
This month there are 1,546 active hernia mesh lawsuits in the Covidien multidistrict litigation (MDL 3029). Lawyers expect these numbers to continue to climb steadily.
November 5, 2024: Ethicon Confidentially Settled Ten Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Claims
Ethicon quietly settled with 10 more hernia mesh lawsuit plaintiffs. The mesh maker has been quietly chipping away at case numbers in MDL 2782 without providing settlement numbers to the public. In a Joint Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice, plaintiffs and defendants agreed to dismiss the cases after settlements were reached. Being dismissed with prejudice means the case cannot be reopened. The plaintiffs who settled are listed in an exhibit attached to the motion.
October 2, 2024: Becton Dickinson Announced Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Settlement
After months of speculation, we can finally report that Becton, Dickinson, and Company (BD) announced a settlement agreement to resolve most of the hernia mesh lawsuits against the company. After years of litigation, plaintiffs who say defective Bard hernia mesh implants injured them, and the families of these plaintiffs, may soon see compensation.
The agreement includes cases filed in Rhode Island and the federal MDL in Ohio. BD said the agreement isn’t an admission of wrongdoing. BD intends to deposit money into a settlement fund over several years. Some attorneys speculate that settlement amounts could be between $50,000 and $100,000. Settlement administrators typically use a set of settlement criteria called a settlement matrix to decide the value of each claim.
October 1, 2024: Atrium Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Settlement Fund Approved
Judge Landya B. McCafferty, who presides over the Atrium MDL 2753, approved a settlement fund for select plaintiffs. The RIL Atrium Hernia Mesh Qualified Settlement Fund is an agreement between Rosen Injury Lawyers and Atrium, according to the Order Approving Qualified Settlement Fund Sub-Account. McCafferty appointed Milestone as the settlement administrator.
September 23, 2024: Both Sides Agreed to Evidence Protocols in Covidien Hernia Mesh Lawsuit MDL
The bellwether process continues to move along in the Covidien MDL, admittedly at a slow pace. Today, both parties agreed on a set of rules for the examination of pathological materials in Case Management Order 14. Pathological materials include bits of hernia mesh or tissue taken from plaintiffs during surgery. These materials will be used as evidence and analyzed. These rules will apply to all hernia mesh lawsuit cases selected for bellwether test trials.
August 13, 2024: Discovery Delays in Covidien Hernia Mesh MDL
Ethicon and J&J quietly settled 224 hernia mesh cases in multidistrict litigation.
July 15, 2024: Could Bard Hernia Mesh MDL be Close to Settling?
Shortly after the judge overseeing the Bard hernia mesh MDL issued an order pausing all litigation, lawyers continued to speculate on a potential global settlement. C.R. Bard is the defendant in the biggest hernia mesh MDL, with about 24,000 cases pending. The company has reached confidential settlements with some firms and their clients but hasn’t yet announced a global settlement. Hundreds of lawsuits joined the MDL in June, just before Judge Sargus issued the stay earlier this month.
So far, there’s been no official settlement news. As soon as we hear anything, we’ll pass it on.
July 6, 2024: Discovery Paused in Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuit MDL
Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. issued Case Management Order 52, which issued a stay or pause in all activities in Bard hernia mesh cases filed before July 6, 2024. In the order, Sargus notes, “the stay will be lifted in cases in which the plaintiffs opt out of the Master Settlement Agreement.”
This detail leads us to believe that a Bard hernia mesh settlement agreement could be close.
May 29, 2024: Discovery Disputes in Covidien Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Slow Down Litigation Progress
There haven’t been any important updates since the end of last month. Covidien hernia mesh lawsuits are bogged down in discovery disputes, according to the Joint Status Report dated April 29, 2024. Plaintiffs and defendants have yet to agree on a compromise, and plaintiffs are still trying to get the defendants to produce documents. Nothing of note to report in the Bard hernia mesh MDL.
April 8, 2024: Judge Extends Deadlines in Covidien Hernia Mesh Lawsuit MDL
Judge M. Page Kelley issued Case Management Order 13, which extends the general discovery deadline to December 9, 2024. The deadline for expert reports is May 28, 2025. The deadline to choose a hernia mesh lawsuit for the first bellwether test trial is May 12, 2025. This means we probably won’t see a settlement anytime soon since both sides typically look to these test trial results to negotiate settlements. However, a settlement could happen anytime during this litigation if Covidien offers one.
February 29, 2024: Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Mediation Scheduled
Judge Sargus postponed the final Bard hernia mesh lawsuit bellwether trial indefinitely. Now, Case Management Order 51-A orders both sides to attend mediation to settle the cases. Mediation is set for March 25 and March 26, 2024. The order instructs the mediator, John Jackson, to tell the Court if no agreement has been reached by May 24, 2024. If the parties can’t agree, they will submit a plan to the judge by June 24, 2024, for remanding (returning) cases back to the courts they originated in. Lawyers say the threat of remand is important leverage in favor of plaintiffs. A remand means defendants must have court cases all over the country. Remand is very expensive for the defense.
December 2021:
The judge granted a Motion to Establish a Qualified Settlement Fund in the Atrium MDL. The settlement terms were confidential, but Atrium reportedly set aside $66 million.
February 2, 2024: Judge Shuts Down Bard Appeal in $500,000 Hernia Mesh Lawsuit
According to attorneys, a judge denied Bard’s attempt to appeal the $500,000 award given to Aaron Stinson for the injuries he said he suffered from Bard’s defective hernia mesh implant. It is common for defendants to appeal verdicts in favor of plaintiffs, sometimes more than once. In this case, the judge sided with Stinson.
Judge Sargus issued Case Management Order 50 and canceled the upcoming bellwether trial, Bryan v. C.R. Bard, Inc., et al. The judge cited it has spent “a total of 56 days in trial and has issued more than 100 opinions on dispositive motions and evidentiary issues in bellwether cases…The usefulness of another lengthy and expensive trial is dubious at best.” In the same order, the Court also denied the plaintiffs’ motion to remand cases. This means cases will remain in the MDL for now.
January 10, 2024: After Three Trials, Parties Will Decide Next Steps in Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuits
After three trials, the parties in the Bard hernia mesh MDL must decide the next step. A fourth trial is still on the docket for April 2024. Judge Edmund Sargus scheduled the next status conference for February 6th at 1:30 pm. According to the notice, it will be held virtually on Zoom. The plaintiffs revealed their frustration with the pace of the litigation in their earlier Motion to Remand, requesting that cases be sent back to their original courts. Hopefully, we’ll know where the MDL is headed in the next few months.
January 5, 2024: Plaintiff’s Leadership Filed Motion to Send Cases from the MDL Back to Their Original District Courts
Plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a case management order that includes a motion to remove cases from the MDL and return them to individual federal district courts for trial. Plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that some people who filed lawsuits against Bard in the MDL have been waiting for nearly six years for relief and their “day in court.”
Even after three bellwether test trials and ample evidence presented in trial and discovery, Bard has yet to offer a settlement. Lawyers speculate that this might be a strategy to encourage the defendant to settle.
December 2023: Ethicon and J&J quietly settled 224 hernia mesh cases in multidistrict litigation.
November 2023:
A federal court jury in Ohio awarded plaintiff Aaron Stinson of Maine a $500,000 verdict in the latest bellwether hernia mesh trial against Bard.
October 2023:
The third bellwether trial against C.R. Bard was scheduled to begin in U.S. Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
April 2023:
Several cases were dismissed from the Ethicon MDL, which remained open despite a confidential settlement in September 2021.
March 2023:
The judge rescheduled the third hernia mesh bellwether trial, Stinson v. C.R. Bard, et al., from May 2023 to Oct. 16, 2023.
April 2022: A jury awarded Antonio Milanesi a $255,000 verdict against C.R. Bard in the second bellwether trial.
December 2021: The judge granted a Motion to Establish a Qualified Settlement Fund in the Atrium MDL. The settlement terms were confidential, but Atrium reportedly set aside $66 million.
September 2021: Ethicon agreed to a confidential global settlement.
August 2021: The first hernia mesh bellwether trial ended in a win for defendant C.R. Bard.
What You Should Know About Filing a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit
Before filing a hernia mesh lawsuit, it’s important to find an experienced lawyer who has handled litigation for hundreds or thousands of claimants. They should also have a strong background in cases against big corporations with large and well-funded legal teams. We work with Guardian Legal Group LLC, which has experience connecting people with lawyers.
Drugwatch works with experienced law firms that have recovered billions in jury verdicts and settlements for their clients. You can get a free case review through us. Remember, hiring an attorney is important, and you should ask the attorney about their experience, trial results and settlement results before hiring them.
What to Expect After You File Your Lawsuit
After you hire an attorney and they file a lawsuit on your behalf, your case will go through several litigation steps. The steps below illustrate the path a hernia mesh lawsuit takes from beginning to end.
Your attorney files the complaint. If there are any issues, you might have to file an amended complaint to correct or add additional information. Your attorney may also file a short-form complaint to simplify the lawsuit filing process. A short-form complaint references the MDL’s master complaint, which contains broad allegations about the litigations. By referencing this, the plaintiff saves time because they only need to include specific details about their case, while the master complaint covers the general allegations. The Bard and Covidien MDLs use short-form complaints.
Your case will enter the discovery phase. Plaintiffs and defendants exchange case information, including medical records and internal company documents. Both sides are building their case.
Next, we enter the pre-trial phase. Parties decide what evidence is allowed in trial, and cases are picked up for trial. It’s important to note that in an MDL, only a handful of cases go to trial. These are bellwether test trials, and the cases picked represent the entire MDL.
Trial. Cases go to trial, eventually ending in a jury verdict or settlement. Defendants may settle before the trial ends, but many settle before the trial even begins.
Both sides may negotiate settlements for individual cases or a global settlement for a large group of plaintiffs. Each case is unique, and you should ask your lawyer about your specific case and what to expect.
Q&A with Moshe Horn, Esquire
Moshe HornMass Torts & Asbestos Attorney
Award-winning lawyer Moshe Horn of Simmons Hanly Conroy answers important questions about hernia mesh litigation.
What can cause a hernia mesh device to fail, and why do some meshes fail more than others?
A defective mesh design is what causes the hernia mesh to fail. Failure can occur for various reasons including, but not limited to: Mesh shrinkage, mesh migration, folding or balling of the mesh, mesh protective coating not preventing adhesions, as well as other issues.
What is the status of the hernia mesh litigation?
A settlement was announced in October to resolve much of the ongoing litigation against C.R. Bard, Davol Inc. in the MDL in the Southern District of Ohio as well as Rhode Island state court. Litigation against Covidien is ongoing in Massachusetts state court.
What can patients expect if they contact your firm to pursue a hernia mesh claim?
You can expect to be asked when and where you had your mesh implant and removal surgery. We’ll also ask if it is possible for you to obtain the medical records for your surgeries and treatment. It’s typically faster for patients to obtain their records than it is if we do a records request from the relevant facilities.
We have handled over a thousand hernia mesh claims, so we are well-positioned to investigate and potentially litigate your claim.
Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Settlement Amounts
Lawyers estimate that the average hernia mesh lawsuit settlement is between $65,000 and $80,000. However, others estimate the high end could be $1 million or higher, and the low end could be $3,000.
Since each case is different, settlement amounts are hard to estimate. Lawyers and companies use several factors to determine hernia mesh settlement amounts. These include the severity and economic impact of the injuries, the effect on quality of life and future financial and medical losses. Generally, more severe injuries and greater financial losses will result in larger settlements.
Estimating Hernia Mesh Settlement Payouts
When lawyers estimate potential hernia mesh settlement payouts, they may look at settlement amounts and jury verdicts from past cases. For example, a jury returned a $1.5 million verdict in the first Kugel mesh trial and Bard settled 2,600 cases for $184 million. On average, this amounts to around $70,000 per claim.
However, the settlement wasn’t divided equally among each plaintiff. Settlement administrators grouped plaintiffs into tiers. Each tier had a points system based on how serious their injuries were. The people with the worst injuries got placed in Tier 1. According to lawyers familiar with the settlement, these claimants received around $900,000. People in Tier 2 reportedly received less than half of those in Tier 1, and the rest got far less than $70,000.
Several people have won hernia mesh lawsuits, and we’ve listed a few of these verdicts below.
Past settlement and jury verdict amounts in hernia mesh lawsuits include:
November 2023: A jury awarded Aaron Stinson $500,000 in his lawsuit against Bard for injuries he received from Bard’s PerFix Plug mesh.
August 2022: A jury in a state case in Rhode Island against Becton Dickinson, a C.R. Bard subsidiary, awarded a $4.8 million verdict.
April 2022: A jury awarded Antonio Milanesi a $255,000 verdict against C.R. Bard in the second bellwether trial.
December 2021: Atrium agreed to a confidential settlement. Some sources reported an amount of $66 million.
June 2011: Bard Davol settled 2,600 Kugel hernia patch lawsuits for $184 million.
Lawyers may also look at vaginal mesh claims for an idea of hernia mesh settlement payout amounts. Like hernia mesh, vaginal mesh is used to repair damaged tissues. Surgeons use it to treat urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, a condition where organs sag down into the vagina.
Endo paid $900 million to settle about 20,000 claims. That comes out to roughly $45,000 per claimant. In this case, plaintiffs in the top tier received more than $500,000.
Keep in mind that settlements aren’t guaranteed, and lawyers generally don’t like to estimate potential settlements because it’s a complex process. However, you can talk to your attorney to get a more accurate understanding of how much your case is worth.
Which Hernia Mesh Manufacturers Are in Lawsuits?
Hernia mesh manufacturers Bard, Ethicon, Covidien and Atrium are the main companies in the most recent lawsuits. However, several other medical device manufacturers have been sued for defective hernia mesh over the years.
Hernia mesh manufacturers include:
Atrium (bought by Getinge)
Becton Dickinson
C.R. Bard (bought by Becton Dickinson)
Cook Medical
Covidien (bought by Medtronic)
Davol (bought by Becton Dickinson)
Ethicon (subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson)
Medtronic
Sofradim
It’s helpful to know which brand of hernia mesh you had implanted before you file a hernia mesh lawsuit. If you don’t know which manufacturers made your hernia mesh implant, a lawyer can help you find out.
Hernia Mesh Recalls
Manufacturers in lawsuits issued hernia mesh recalls due to manufacturing problems and above-average hernia recurrence or revision surgery rates.
For example, Ethicon withdrew its Physiomesh Flexible Composite Mesh from the market in 2016. Data from two hernia mesh registries in Germany and Denmark showed people who had hernia repair with this mesh were more likely to have their hernia come back or need more operations.
If you want to know if your hernia mesh implant was recalled, check the FDA medical device recalls database. Keep in mind that your hernia mesh doesn’t have to be recalled for you to file a hernia mesh lawsuit.
Editor Lindsay Donaldson contributed to this article.
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“Ethicon Physiomesh cases are settled, but it wasn’t a global settlement. There have been millions of dollars in confidential settlements in the Bard litigation, but it’s still going. Covidien is still going. Lawyers are still signing these cases.”
