New lawsuits get filed every day by plaintiffs who suffered an injury after being implanted with a defective Stryker Hip replacement device. One of the latest cases brought to the court’s attention is William D.’s one, a Massachusetts resident who is accusing the manufacturer of breach of warranty and negligence. The man was implanted with an Accolade Hip Stem on December 2009, and shortly thereafter he started suffering from tremendous pain and catastrophic damage. According to his litigation, the company did not care for the safety and well-being of the patients implanted and released a defective device to the market that was prone to breakage and failure. The plaintiff also had to endure serious mental and emotional distress and had to face many medical expenses for which he’s asking compensation.
Another recent litigation was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on November 14. The plaintiff James Smith suffered serious injuries caused by device failure. The Accolade TMZF hip stem he was implanted with in 2007 started making obnoxious metal sounds while the man simply walked around, causing him discomfort and pain. Mr. Smith’s surgeon later found that the Accolade trunnion “grossly failed” and released high amounts of titanium, chromium and cobalt into the patient’s blood. The man needed additional surgery to replace the device with another one.
The defective metal-on-metal hip replacement devices often break or fragment shortly after they have been surgically implanted. Natural body movements generate mechanical stress that causes fretting and corrosion. Devices may loosen, and debris is released into the bloodstream causing metallosis and other forms of metal poisoning. Dislocation, chronic pain and infected wounds are also common adverse reactions that seriously hamper a subject’s quality of life. Patients will then require bone reconstruction, implant substitution and revision surgery. Since 2013, many companies such as Stryker and DePuy started paying a substantial amount of money to settle the many litigations filed in court. Many patients keep filing lawsuits seeking monetary compensation, and some of them even received up to $8.3 million after the jury found the company liable for the damage sustained.
Article by Dr. Claudio Butticè, Pharm.D.
