Kugel Hernia Mesh Patch Injures & Lawsuits Continue in 2011

The FDA continues to receive reports of Kugel Hernia Mesh Patch injuries - and injury lawyers say that lawsuits continue to be filed in 2011. If you've been injured, find out more about the ongoing litigation, the types of compensation for which you might be entitled and how statute of limitation issues affect your situation.

Kugel Hernia Mesh Injuries

Although recalled over a year ago, Davol Bard's Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch continues to be a concern for implant patients. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) says that Kugel Mesh injuries continue to be reported via its adverse event reporting system. Some of the more recent events, many of which are considered life-threatening, include broken memory rings and extreme pain:

• Broken memory rings. Patients have reported that broken memory rings caused bowel perforation and fistula (an abnormal connection or passageway between two organs which normally do not connect) which resulted in hospitalization and symptoms that included abdominal pain, discoloration and draining wounds; vomiting; fatigue; infection and necrosis of the bowel altogether.
• Extreme pain. Extreme pain is generally one of the most commonly reported Kugel Mesh side effects. Specifically, patients have reported experiencing "chronic, constant abdominal pain, sharp and stabbing" and "abdominal pains, fever, wound drainage, abscesses, the mesh folding into a wad, bowel adhesions, fistula, bowel resection, infection [which required] mesh explant."

It's these issues, along with numerous others that have resulted in thousands of Kugel Mesh Patch injury lawsuits.

Kugel Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

Approximately 3,000 Kugel Hernia Mesh lawsuits have been filed against the manufacturer alleging that the patch is defective, that consumers were not warned about defects and that the product should have been taken off the market after three separate FDA recalls in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Although few lawsuits have been tried, one injured victim received $1.5 million in compensation. For anyone who has been injured, it's important to know that you may still have options.

Kugel Mesh Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations - the maximum time period for someone to file a lawsuit - differs from state to state and depends on the facts and circumstances of your individual situation. However, it's important to understand that many states have a discovery rule which means that a statute of limitations may not start to run until the person discovers that they've been injured.

For example, if someone had a Kugel Mesh procedure performed in June 2008 and their state has a two year statute of limitations for filing a product liability lawsuit, that doesn't necessarily mean that they only had until June 2010 to take action. If their state has a discovery statute and they didn't discover the injury until 2010, they may have until 2012 - or later in some cases - in which to act.

The bottom line, according to product liability lawyers, is that there are many variables when it comes to determining when a statute of limitations begins to run and which state law may be applicable. They say too many injured victims don't seek the compensation for which they may be entitled simply because they assume they've waited too long to seek redress and urge anyone injured by Kugel patches to contact them to find out more.