Stryker Rejuvenate Hip Recall Lawsuits Gaining Traction

There are consolidated proceedings for all product liability lawsuits involving recalled Stryker Rejuvenate or ABG II hip stems. New Jersey cases have been centralized before Judge Martinotti in Bergen County as part of an MCL, or Multi-County Litigation.

There are 273 complaints filed throughout the state that are centralized in Bergen County. These complaints are being brought in New Jersey state court, since Stryker Corp’s parent company, Howmedica Osteonics, is headquartered here.

Stryker Federal MDL

Recently, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated 41 lawsuits into an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, which is centralized before U.S. District Judge Frank in the District of Minnesota.

Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Problems

Stryker recalled the ABG II and Rejuvenate hip components in July 2012, after admitting that the artificial hips were subject to fret, corrode, loosen and ultimately fail, resulting in revision surgery to remove the defective hip implant.

The Stryker ABG II and Rejuvenate hips contain modular stems, with two pieces that fit inside each other to allow the surgeon to customize the length based on the patient. The components grind against each other, releasing metallic trash, causing metallosis.

Folks will experience pain and other side effects with their Stryker Rejuvenate or ABG II hip implants and according to experts the number of lawsuits will continue to increase. Artificial hips are designed to last 15 to 20 years, the Stryker components were removed from the market less than four years after they were introduced. According to some estimates, more than 53,000 of the Stryker hip replacements were sold before the recall, with most already implanted into patients.

Patients who received a Stryker Rejuvenate hip replacement allege that the manufacturer failed to adequately research the design or warn about the risk of early failure. Experts predict that thousands of cases will be filed as patients realize that their Stryker Rejuvenate hips failed due to implant design. According to Stryker, the costs associated with the Stryker Rejuvenate recall could be up to $390 million, including payments to cover medical treatment and personal injury settlements paid to individuals who received the defective hip implant.

Other Metal on Metal Hip Lawsuits

More than 7,800 complaints have been filed by patients who have experienced side effects with a recalled DePuy ASR hip implant. These cases are consolidated as part of an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation, before U.S. District Judge Katz in the Northern District of Ohio.

Many lawsuits have been filed over other metal-on-metal hip systems, including the DePuy Pinnacle hip implants, Biomet M2A Magnum metal hips and Wright Medical Conserve Cup.