It appears, from what you write, to be too late to sue.The "statute of limitations" is the time within which you must file a lawsuit; law suits filed after the statute will be dismissed for being too late. In your state, the statute for product liability (e.g. defective mesh) is 3 years; the statute for medical malpractice is as little as 3 years or as much as 6, depending on the exact circumstances. If you had the surgery 18 years ago and have been suffering pain (which would cue you in to investigate, since something was clearly wrong; therefore, you cannot try to claim that you only just became aware of the problem) for 15 years, it would be too late to take legal action.