Stryker Rejuvenate Defective Hip Lawsuits Hits 1,000 Nationwide

According to recent court documents, Stryker Rejuvenate hip lawsuits is closing in on 1,000. Plaintiffs allege early hip implant failure and metal poisoning side effect problems from the recalled modular hip system.

Stryker Rejuvenate Failures

According to experts, about 20,000 Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II hip systems were sold in the United States before it was recalled in July 2012. At that time medical reports indicated that the modular femoral neck-stem corrodes and frets, leading the implant to fail within a few short years. The fretting and corrosion leads to loosening  of the metal hip implants with hip pain, swelling and difficulty in mobility.

Stryker Rejuvenate New Design

The Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II are modular neck-stems, consisting of two pieces that allow the orthopedic surgeon to customize the length of the femoral component in the patient. The design has been linked to metal debris locally in the hip joint as the chromium-cobalt neck grinds against the titanium femoral stem.

Metal Hips touted to last 20 years

Metal hip replacements are expected to last 15 to 20 years, but Stryker acknowledged a higher-than-acceptable failure rate. Unfortunately as the metal hip implant remains in place, more patients are suffering earlier failure problems from the Stryker hip implant.

Stryker Rejuvenate Hip Lawsuit Update

Plaintiffs have filed product liability lawsuits against Stryker and it’s parent company, Howmedica Osteonics Corp., and all complaints filed in U.S. District Courts nationwide have been centralized in the District of Minnesota for coordinated pretrial proceedings, as part of an MDL or Multi-District Litigation. There are currently at least 395 cases centralized in the Stryker Rejuvenate MDL.

Complaints have also been filed in New Jersey state court, which is where the hip manufacturer is headquartered in the U.S. There are at least 553 Stryker Rejuvenate or ABG II lawsuits centralized in Bergen County, where pretrial proceedings are being coordinated as part of an MCL, or Multi-County Litigation.

Stryker Rejuvenate Mediation Settlement

The plaintiffs allege that the Stryker designed and sold a defective and dangerous hip replacement system, that the modular stem was not properly tested with inadequate warnings to patients and the implanting orthopedic doctors.

There is a mediation process in play, with a first round of settlement talks expected to occur in New Jersey state court by December 15. According to a court order, a total of 10 cases will be negotiated during these initial mediation phase.

Stryker estimated that the total amount to settle Stryker Rejuvenate lawsuits may exceed $1 billion.