Unfortunately, a hernia will not fix itself and one of the primary treatments is surgery involving hernia mesh. These surgeries can be laparoscopic (poking surgical tools through small incisions) or open (traditional surgery involving a large incision). The hernia mesh is basically a small piece of netting, mostly in a sheet or a plug, which is used to provide additional support to a weakened or damaged area. The hernia mesh used can be synthetic (commonly a bunch of plastic-based threads that look like fine fishing string and are woven into a mesh) or actual tissue (from humans, pigs or cows).

The claims describe different types of hernia mesh being defective in many ways – failing, migrating, balling up, or just not incorporating well into the body. Injuries claimed in the lawsuits include: pain, infection, hernia recurrence, scar tissue (adhesion), blockage in the intestines (obstruction), bleeding, abnormal connection between organs, vessels, or intestines (fistula), fluid build-up at the surgical site (seroma), and a hole in neighboring tissues or organs (perforation). These injuries caused the claimants to have to have another surgery to fix the defective mesh (a revision), or they were told to get a revision but could not due to other medical conditions.