Jury finds Davol Inc. of Warwick negligent in hernia patch, awards man $4.8 million
PROVIDENCE — A Superior Court jury on Monday awarded a Hawaii man $4.8 million for injuries he suffered from faulty surgical mesh implanted during a hernia repair.
The jury reached its verdict Monday after a month-long trial before Judge Richard A. Licht, holding Warwick-based manufacturer Davol Inc., a division of C.R. Bard, liable for “severe gastrointestinal injuries” suffered by Paul Trevino, according to Motley Rice, the law firm representing Trevino.
The jury deliberated five days before finding the company negligent in the development and sale of its Ventralex mesh hernia repair patch, the firm said.
Trevino had alleged that Bard made his hernia mesh device using a low-quality polypropylene plastic that was not safe for use in humans and led to severe complications and corrective surgeries after the mesh burrowed into his intestinal tissue, the firm said.
“Thank you to the lawyers and staff who took time out of their lives and away from their families for this case. Justice was served,” Trevino said.
Jonathan Orent, co-lead counsel representing Trevino, celebrated the jury’s award.
“I couldn’t be any happier for the Trevino family. They sat through a lot. In the end, the jury saw through the blame game and ruled in favor of justice,” Orent said in a statement.
In 2011, C.R. Bard Inc. reached a $184-million settlement with plaintiffs who alleged they had been injured by defective hernia patches manufactured by its Davol Inc. subsidiary. Becton Dickinson & Co. acquired C.R. Bard in 2017.
The trial was broadcast gavel-to-gavel via webcast by Courtroom View Network.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Hawaii man awarded $4.8M for faulty hernia patch made by RI-based co.
