Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

As of March 2025, 26,243 total hernia mesh lawsuits were pending in four multidistrict litigations against Atrium (467 cases), Covidien (1,677 cases), C.R. Bard (24,083 cases) and Ethicon (16 cases). People continue to file lawsuits.

In February 2025, though the number of lawsuits continued to rise, many existing suits were recently (or will soon be) dismissed due to previous settlements.

In October 2024, Becton Dickinson announced a confidential settlement. This deal aims to resolve the “vast majority” of hernia mesh lawsuits against the company and its subsidiary, Bard. This will likely apply to many cases in the ongoing Bard MDL.

Atrium is the defendant in MDL 2753 before Chief Judge Landya B. McCafferty of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Covidien is the defendant in MDL 3029 before Chief Judge Patti B. Saris of the District of Massachusetts. Davol, Inc./C.R. Bard, Inc. is the defendant in MDL 2846 before Chief Judge Edmund Albert Sargus, Jr. of the Southern District of Ohio. Ethicon is the defendant in MDL 2782 before Senior District Judge Richard W. Story of the Northern District of Georgia.

People who have filed hernia mesh lawsuits argue that the mesh failed. They report that it caused significant injuries, requiring at least one revision surgery. A hernia occurs when part of an organ protrudes through a muscular wall. A mesh reinforces the tissue surrounding that organ to stop the organ from protruding. However, some plaintiffs required multiple surgeries, and others claim their complications continued after revision surgery.

Lawsuits seek compensation for lost wages and medical bills. They also name damages, including pain, suffering and loss of quality of life.

People who filed lawsuits suffered severe hernia mesh complications that required additional surgery. Mesh failure happens when the implant leads to problems. These can include hernia recurrence or pain, which may require removing the mesh.

Symptoms that can require hernia mesh removal include urinary problems, fever or swelling at the surgery site. Delayed or long-term complications can also happen. These include adhesions, hernia recurrence or chronic pain that may occur years after the original surgery.

To qualify for a hernia mesh lawsuit, you must have experienced severe complications from mesh named in lawsuits. You must also file your claim within the statute of limitations.

“The people that are eligible for filing a hernia mesh claim would be folks who have had complications after a hernia mesh surgery,” Hernia mesh attorney Daniel Nigh told ConsumerNotice. “So, for example, if you’ve had or if you’re scheduled for a revision surgery or you’ve had a revision of your hernia mesh, you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible.”

An experienced medical injury lawyer can help you determine your lawsuit eligibility. The sooner you contact an attorney, the better your chance of achieving a settlement.

Patients have filed lawsuits against several major hernia mesh manufacturers in federal and state courts. Though other manufacturers are affected, as of early 2025, the primary manufacturers involved at any level are Atrium, Bard Davol (C.R. Bard and Davol Inc.), Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon, W.L. Gore & Associates and Covidien/Medtronic.

Hernia mesh manufacturers such as Medtronic produce over 70 different mesh brands. Atrium is also a major manufacturer that dominates the U.S. market.

Hernia mesh is a net-like implant typically made from polypropylene plastic, which is non-absorbable and synthetic. Some synthetic meshes are coated with a physical barrier, such as omega-3 fatty acids or collagen. These barriers are supposed to reduce the body’s inflammatory response. Another type of hernia mesh is biologic mesh, manufactured from disinfected animal tissue and absorbed into the body over time.

Multidistrict litigation (MDL) is a legal process that centralizes and transfers similar civil lawsuits from different parts of the country to one judge. Each lawsuit remains separate but addresses common questions of fact simultaneously. MDLs reduce the burden on the courts and make litigation less costly and more efficient.

A multidistrict litigation differs from a class action lawsuit. In class action lawsuits, the case combines individual plaintiffs into a single suit. In MDLs, however, the court groups similar cases and decides them in one or a few bellwether trials.

In a bellwether trial, a few of the many cases in an MDL are chosen for individual trials. This is intended to help involved parties anticipate how related future litigation will turn out.

Plaintiffs filing hernia mesh lawsuits claim compensation for economic losses, non-economic losses and, in some cases, punitive damages. Financial losses include past and future medical expenses and wage losses. They also include the cost of any additional surgery the plaintiff may require to fix the original complications.

Non-economic losses relate to compensation for emotional and mental distress. For example, one plaintiff experienced sexual difficulty because of hernia mesh surgery. This category of damages addresses the loss of quality and enjoyment of life.

If a relative files a wrongful death lawsuit over hernia mesh issues, they might get economic or non-economic damages. These can cover the victim’s suffering, the challenges faced after their death, or both.

There have been several verdicts and settlements in hernia mesh cases, some as high as $1.5 million.

Bard’s parent company, Becton Dickinson, announced in October 2024 that it had agreed to a confidential settlement to resolve the vast majority of hernia mesh lawsuits against the company. A settlement fund was created in January 2025.

Bard had lost three bellwether trials in a row, with verdicts ranging from $250,000 to $4.8 million. In the recent bellwether trial of November 2023, a jury reached a $500,000 verdict in favor of the plaintiff, Aaron Stinson.

A jury ordered Bard to pay $1.5 million to one plaintiff in a Kugel patch lawsuit in 2010. The mesh maker also paid $184 million to settle 2,600 lawsuits, closing the Kugel Patch MDL.

Editor Lindsay Donaldson contributed to this article.