What Is the Average Payout for Hernia Mesh Lawsuits?

Determining the average payout for hernia mesh lawsuits is difficult. Ultimately, various factors will affect how much compensation you receive, including the severity of your complications and any other health problems that you have developed as a result of the mesh. While current hernia mesh lawsuits are still undergoing bellwether trials, one can look back through history to get a sense of what could be received.

Hernia mesh has proven problematic since its first iterations over 50 years ago. The product is intended to prevent you from suffering a recurrent hernia by strengthening the surgically repaired area. However, many complications have proven much more harmful than helpful after a patient undergoes hernia mesh surgery.

Knowing how much hernia mesh lawsuits in the past have won can help you get a better understanding of what you should expect to win in your particular case. Fill out our contact firm to connect with a defective medical device attorney.

How Long Does It Take for a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit to Reach a Settlement?

Hernia mesh lawsuits can take years to resolve, which is why it is so important to get the legal process going as soon as possible. A lawyer can review the details of your case right away. That way, they can present your lawsuit while the mass tort lawsuit is still going on.

Some of the lawsuits in trial right now have been around for over five years. To speed up this process, federal courts have recently tried to bring more hernia mesh lawsuits to trial through multi-district litigation (MDL), but there is still no definitive timeline on what you should expect.

With bellwether trials already reaching settlements, you could see a faster resolution for your case just because of the timing of opting-in, but there is no guarantee that your lawsuit won’t take years. There are some who are expecting a settlement this year after the third bellwether trial, but there has yet to be a date set for this trial. It is good to remain hopeful that the lawsuit can reach a settlement quickly, but you should be prepared to endure a process that can take a while.

Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Settlement Amounts

Bellwether trials in the current hernia mesh lawsuit against C.R. Bard are still ongoing, so knowing what to expect from your own settlement takes a bit of inferring. The best thing that you can do to prepare for what to expect is to continue to follow the current bellwether trials and review prior hernia mesh lawsuit outcomes.

Some lawsuits settled over the years and involved other forms of mesh implanted during surgery. While these lawsuits will have different factors than yours, there are a lot of side effects and concerns that will be similar. Ask your lawyer about these non-hernia mesh cases so that you can get a better understanding of how verdicts in such lawsuits could impact yours.

Johns v C.R. Bard

Johns v Bard was the first bellwether trial of the current mass tort lawsuit against Bard. The jury ultimately ruled in favor of Bard, marking a huge victory for the defense. Johns had been implanted with hernia mesh in 2015, and he complained of debilitating pain that would not go away. There were seven claims brought against Bard, and the jury sided with the defense on all of them, leaving Johns with nothing.

While this verdict was certainly a disappointing result for plaintiffs, it does not mean that you are unlikely to receive financial compensation for your suffering due to hernia mesh failure. A lot of factors go into determining whether someone should receive financial compensation, and your case could be entirely different from Johns’.

Antonio Milanesi v C.R. Bard

In the second bellwether trial, things went much better for the plaintiff. In April of 2022, Milanesi received a $255,000 settlement for damages that he suffered as a result of hernia mesh. Milanesi cited similar problems to Johns, and the jury ultimately elected to side with him over the corporation that manufactures hernia mesh.

This case is the current benchmark for those with hernia mesh complications. While the result was not as high as in a previous lawsuit against C.R. Bard, the result still gave plaintiffs hope that their lawsuits would result in financial compensation.

The third and final bellwether trial has not yet set a date. Those involved with the lawsuit will be watching closely, as the trial will serve as a key factor in the settlement that Bard ultimately reaches with the plaintiffs.

Previous Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

In 2011, parties reached a settlement for another lawsuit brought against C.R. Bard due to complications that arose from their Kugel Patch. More than 3,000 plaintiffs filed lawsuits for injuries sustained due to the product, and Bard eventually settled for $184 million, which was split amongst the plaintiffs. The amount plaintiff received depended on the severity of their injuries and their suffering.

During this lawsuit, the bellwether trials followed a similar trajectory to the one in the open lawsuit today. In the first bellwether trial, Bard acquired a victory over the plaintiff. However, in the second trial, the jury found that the Kugel Patch was defective, and the plaintiff, Christopher Thorpe received a $1,500,000 award. There was no third bellwether trial, as Bard settled shortly after the verdict of the second bellwether trial was reached.

How Much Will I Receive in Compensation From My Hernia Mesh Lawsuit?

As you can see from the lawsuits listed above, it is hard to know exactly how much compensation one can obtain in a hernia mesh case. In the 2011 settlement, the average compensation was about $70,000 per plaintiff.

Once they settled, the plaintiffs were placed in tiers, with some receiving more than average, some receiving less, and some receiving right around the average amount. Determining how much you can expect to receive will depend on how debilitating the effects of hernia mesh failure were on your body and other aspects of your life.

The Severity of Your Complications

Numerous complications can occur as a result of hernia mesh. So, depending on the severity of your complications, you could receive more or less than the average payout of the current lawsuit.

Some key questions you can ask yourself when trying to figure out how much you might receive as a payout are:

Did I need a follow-up or new surgery?
Has it been determined that hernia mesh caused me to suffer another unrelated problem?
Did I suffer an infection?
Am I in chronic pain?

Many people who suffer complications from hernia mesh can answer yes to all of the above questions. Those who need surgery or are suffering long-term effects and chronic pain that result in a loss of the enjoyment of life are more likely to receive a higher amount of compensation than those who had more minor complications.

Be sure to be forthcoming about all the complications you experienced due to hernia mesh failure. This information will help your lawyer create the most financially beneficial lawsuit for you.

Damages You Can Claim in Your Hernia Mesh Lawsuit

Even though everyone filing a hernia mesh lawsuit has unique damages, many forms of compensation they can seek overlap. They include:

Medical costs for past and future care
Income loss
Reduced future earning power
Pain and suffering
Disfigurement
Mental anguish

This financial recovery will help you put your life back together after suffering financial, physical, and emotional hardship.

What Are the Chances of Hernia Mesh Failure?

It’s not easy to determine just how likely it is for hernia mesh failure to occur. Because of the variables involved in the process, such as the type of surgery, mesh, patient, and surgeon, it has been hard for doctors to come up with studies that give a definitive answer to how likely hernia mesh failure is. With that, based on studies conducted by a variety of doctors, the recurrence rate is assumed to be between about 3.7% (per Jornal of the American Medical Association (AMA)) and 14.3% (per Hernia).

However, recurrence is not the only medical issue associated with hernia mesh. There are other very serious medical conditions that patients can experience following surgery.

Causes of Hernia Mesh Failure

It seems that most hernia mesh failures occur because of a product design flaw. This flaw causes damage to other internal organs or severe internal pain that ultimately results in surgery to remove the mesh. Hernia mesh failure could be due to:

Adhesion
Bowel obstruction
Bowel perforation
Rejection
Migration
Infection

Depending on what cause you are exhibiting, your symptoms could range from fever and chills to severe abdominal pain and abdomen rigidity. It is vital that you are aware of any signs or symptoms of hernia mesh failure so that you can take care of any problem before it becomes life-threatening. Many of the complications that arise because of hernia mesh failure are medical emergencies.

Unfortunately, most of the time when there is a hernia mesh failure, there will be the need for another surgery that repairs the complication. There are also instances of hernia mesh failing and causing another hernia in the same location as the previous one. In that case, you will need another hernia surgery to prevent further medical problems.

Common Symptoms of Hernia Mesh Failure

While hernia mesh failure can mimic symptoms of other health problems, there are a few symptoms to be alert for.

Difficulty urinating or constipation
High fever
Increased redness near the location of the surgery
Nausea and vomiting
Abdominal rigidity
Severe pain that will not go away

A doctor may dismiss many of these symptoms as another health problem if they are unaware of your hernia mesh surgery. This is why it is very important that you inform your doctor of the implanted hernia mesh if you are suffering from any of these symptoms.

Consult a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Attorney

If you are suffering side effects that could be the result of hernia mesh failure, then you should seek immediate medical care. Once you take care of your health, discuss with your doctor whether or not the complications you suffered were because of hernia mesh. If your physician determines that hernia mesh failure caused your complications, then you should consider consulting a hernia mesh lawsuit attorney. They can help you form your lawsuit and seek the proper amount of compensation that fits your specific situation.

To find the best attorney for you, do your research. Make sure that you have listened to what multiple lawyers have had to say so that you can properly gauge what will work best for you. You want to make sure that the lawyer you choose has experience with handling mass tort and multi-district lawsuits and that they are familiar with hernia mesh lawsuits. Make sure that you are comfortable with the attorney you hire. They will be reviewing personal information, such as your medical records, so they should be someone you trust.

In addition to helping you with your lawsuit, your lawyer will be able to provide you with knowledge of the legal process. They will be able to explain the results of the bellwether trials to give you a better understanding of what you could expect to win from your hernia mesh lawsuit. If there are any key developments in the lawsuit, they should keep you informed, rather than you having to do the work yourself.

Fill Out Our Contact Form to Find a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Lawyer Today

When you are ready to take the next steps toward pursuing financial compensation for your hernia mesh injuries, we can help. For more information about how we can help you, fill out the form on our website, and let your path toward financial recovery begin.