How a Lawyer Can Help with Your Hernia Mesh Case

When you're experiencing unexpected health problems after hernia mesh surgery, you're understandably focused on your health, but you might also have questions about the legal side of things. Who is responsible for hernia mesh complications? What kind of compensation might a hernia mesh settlement bring? The answers depend on the specifics of your case, but one thing is certain: Hernia mesh cases are complex, and your best first step is to discuss your situation with an experienced lawyer. Here's why.

Hernia Mesh Cases Often Involve Significant "Damages"

The value of a personal injury case is determined mostly by the seriousness of the claimant's injuries and other losses ("damages"), and hernia mesh cases are no exception. Health problems caused by defective mesh can be significant, and that means:

• significant medical treatment is often necessary to correct the problems
• medical bills can really add up
• discomfort, pain and suffering can be prolonged
• the patient's recovery can take a long time, and
• the patient's life can be seriously disrupted in the meantime.

All of these factors can add to your damages, increasing the value of your hernia mesh case, and making it critical that your claim be in the right hands. (Keep in mind that your lawyer will almost certainly be paid under a contingency fee agreement, meaning your lawyer receives an agreed-upon percentage of any settlement or court award you receive; if you don't get paid, neither does your lawyer.)

Experience Matters

With some kinds of injuries, it may not be a bad idea to handle a claim on your own. For example, if you're in a minor car accident, the other driver was clearly at fault, and your injuries were pretty slight, hiring a lawyer may not make much of a difference, as long as you're comfortable diving into the claim process. But hernia mesh cases are very different.

First of all, as we discussed in the previous section, the stakes are typically much higher in a hernia mesh case, compared with other kinds of injury cases. When it's time to enter into hardball negotiations with a medical device manufacturer (and its small army of attorneys), an attorney will have the skill, experience, and resolve to stand up and fight for your case.

Second, when you hire a lawyer who has experience with hernia mesh lawsuits, you're putting your case in the hands of someone who has been here before—that means they know the best evidence to put together, the right legal arguments to make, and how to avoid the kinds of obstacles that can derail your case. Maybe they've even successfully handled cases that are identical to yours in terms of:

• the kind of mesh material that failed
• the specific implant procedure that went wrong
• the types of health problems resulting from mesh complications, and
• the manufacturer of the mesh (the defendant in your lawsuit).

A Team Effort

When you hire an experienced hernia mesh lawyer, you're also getting the benefit of that lawyer's network of medical experts, investigators, litigation consultants, and other professionals who know what it takes to build a strong case, and will work to help build yours. You can bet the mesh manufacturer will have its own experts and consultants (and you can rest assured their opinions won't exactly be favorable to your case), so it's crucial to have the best possible team on your side.

Your Priority Is Your Health

When you're experiencing health problems because of failed hernia mesh, your priority is getting better and getting on with your life. Putting the legal side of things in the right hands means you can focus on your health while your attorney focuses on building your best case. Learn more about finding and working with the right injury lawyer.