Stryker is facing lawsuits filed nationwide by patients who say they were injured by the devices. On July 6, 2012, the FDA announced Stryker’s recall of the Rejuvenate and ABGII hip devices and terminated distribution of the devices given the potential risks associated with “fretting and corrosion of the modular neck junction.”
The Stryker Rejuvenate and ABGII hip implant devices consist of modular necks with a metal-on-metal junction. According to the recall notice published by the FDA, patients who received these metal-on-metal devices may experience pain and/or swelling around the implant. The defective device may also cause elevated levels of metals in the body, detectable by a blood test. Contact between metal ions and surrounding tissues may lead to adverse tissue reaction, metallosis, and necrosis. Ultimately, some patients undergo hip revision surgeries to remove the defective devices.
“The patients who received these devices were never informed of the risk of developing potentially serious medical conditions. Unfortunately, the recall is too little, too late for many,” said DeGaris. According to DeGaris, Cory Watson Crowder & DeGaris attorneys are investigating hundreds of Stryker implant cases in more than 30 states. In all of the cases, patients claim to have been injured by the Stryker device.
DeGaris has served in leadership positions in national litigation involving numerous pharmaceutical drugs and orthopedic devices. Currently he serves on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, In Re: DePuy Orthopedics, Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2197. Cory Watson Crowder & DeGaris has more than twenty years’ experience in litigation involving the failure of orthopaedic devices, including litigation against DePuy, Johnson & Johnson and others involving knee replacements, hip replacements, and orthopedic screws.
The Daniels Law Firm, P.C. is a North Carolina law firm practicing in complex litigation including class actions, products liability, business and securities litigation, environmental litigation and mass torts litigation of defective medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs. The Daniels Law Firm has an extensive practice in consumer litigation, personal injury law and wrongful death cases. Additional information is available at www.danielslawfirm.net.