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Recalled Stryker Hip Replacement Device
The lawyers at Taylor Martino Rowan are reviewing potential product-liability lawsuits for individuals throughout the United States who have received a recalled Stryker hip replacement with an ABG II or Rejuvenate modular-neck stem have reported experiencing symptoms of pain and swelling at the joint site. As a result of design problems with Stryker modular hip replacements, individuals may be at risk of experiencing fretting or corrosion of the hip implant, metallosis or metal blood poisoning, pain, swelling, inflammation, local tissue reactions, tumors, loosening or failure of the implant, and may require hip revision surgery. Financial compensation may be available through a lawsuit for individuals who have experienced problems or are at risk of complications.
STRYKER HIP-REPLACEMENT RECALL
On July 6, 2012, Stryker recalled the ABG II and Rejuvenate Modular Hip Systems that feature a modular-neck stem, after it was discovered that they may pose an increased risk of corrosion, fretting, and wear. The lawyers at Taylor Martino Rowan are investigating potential Stryker hip lawsuits for individuals who may have received this recalled modular-neck-stem. Individuals who received a Stryker hip replacement with an ABG II or Rejuvenate modular-neck stem have reported experiencing symptoms of pain and swelling at the joint site, which often leads to the need for additional surgery to revise or remove the artificial hip. The recall was issued because these problems may be predictive of a trend. The modular-neck stems in the Stryker hip replacements consist of a metal neck inside a metal stem. While they were promoted as a superior design that allows surgeons to customize the implant for certain aspects of a patient’s anatomy and hip biomechanics, as the metal parts rub against each other during normal daily activities, microscopic shavings of metal particles may be released into the body, the surrounding tissue, and the blood stream. This may result in metallosis, which can be associated with tissue death, pseudo tumors, bone necrosis, and hip implant loosening. The issues are similar to metal-on-metal hip replacement problems, where a metal femoral stem may rub against a metal acetabular cup.
In recent years, thousands of individuals throughout the United States have filed hip-replacement lawsuits against the manufacturers of metal-on-metal implants, such as the DePuy ASR hip, DePuy Pinnacle hip, Wright Conserve Cup, Biomet M2A-Magnum Hip, and others. Stryker modular-hip lawsuits allege that the company knew or should have known that the two-part modular neck would be prone to similar problems, which result in the same release of toxic metal into the surrounding tissue and bloodstream, which is known to cause premature failure and other complications. The Stryker Rejuvenate modular hip was introduced in 2009 after FDA approval was obtained without conducting rigorous pre-marketing testing of the product. The manufacturer was able to obtain “fast-track” approval through the FDA’s controversial 510(k) approval process, by establishing that the design was substantially equivalent to another modular-neck hip stem that was already on the market, the Wright Medical Pro-Femur. However, since that component was introduced, it has also been associated with reports of catastrophic failure within a few years after surgery, and a number of Wright Pro-Femur hip lawsuits have been filed in courts throughout the United States.
The attorneys at Taylor Martino Rowan are reviewing injury lawsuits for individuals who received a recalled Rejuvenate or ABG II modular-neck stem as part of the artificial hip system. All cases are reviewed by our lawyers on a contingency-fee basis, which means that there are no fees unless a recovery is obtained.
