Don’t Be Fooled If You Think You Had a Stryker ADM or Trident Instead of a Rejuvenate

Over the past several weeks we have spoken with many defective hip implant patients who are suffering with debilitating pain, loss of motion and inability to complete simple tasks, let alone their jobs. Most have either had revision surgery or are planning to in the near future. There seem to be some repeating themes that have this group of patients at a loss. We have been able to answer many of their questions.

I have personally spoken with several prospective clients that were adamant that despite the fact their complications were identical to others we have discussed, they did not have a Rejuvenate hip implant. The first swore she had a Stryker ADM implant. She had never heard the term Rejuvenate.  I explained to her that the Stryker ADM system was nothing more than a modular bearing component that is comprised of the acetabular cup, a poly liner and a ball that fits in the specially designed cup/insert. In other words, it’s the part of a hip implant that replaces the socket. She was adamant that her doctor had told her that her implant was a Stryker ADM so I convinced her to obtain the product ID stickers from her hospital chart.  She called me that afternoon amazed that in fact, she did have an ADM bearing surface but, the neck and stem of her device were Stryker Rejuvenate.

Another interesting observation from discussing this woman’s case with her involved her surgeon’s attempts to fix her problems. Approximately 9 months following placement of her Rejuvenate/ADM implant, her pain had become so bad that she was wheelchair bound. Of course all of the tests administered were negative. Even the ones attempting to determine if her lower back was the source of her problems. In her first revision surgery, the doctor removed and replaced only the neck of the Rejuvenate system. She was told by her doctor how that was Stryker’s recommendation for fixing the problems with early Rejuvenate failures. If you have read any of our prior posts about what the problem is with the Rejuvenate system, you should be able to predict the result. Within six months of the new neck implant, she’s back in the wheelchair, missing work, and has a complete revision planned. Her surgeon has told her that he refuses to use the Rejuvenate anymore and that he has had six fail just like hers.

Yet another client called with the same problems. He has a total revision planned for the second week in July. His hip has been implanted for less than a year. This man was convinced he has a Stryker Trident hip implant that had failed. Like the woman above, he had never heard of the Rejuvenate. Fortunately for him, he had been given his product ID stickers. He dug them out and sent them to me. Sure enough, like the lady above, he had a Stryker Trident bearing surface married to a Stryker Rejuvenate neck and stem. He was shocked since all he had heard was that he had a Stryker Trident hip.

Both of these patients have had their orthopedic surgeons as well as their internists refuse to conduct heavy metal testing despite their request to have the testing performed. In addition, both have been told by their orthopedic surgeon that they have stopped using the Stryker Rejuvenate system. One told the patient that Stryker had, “Put a hold” on the Rejuvenate. Each of the doctors told the patients that they had multiple failures. This corroborates stories we have heard from patients all over the country including from one surgeon’s patient who says that his practice has revised 28 patients.

We have yet to speak with a prospective client who has not told us that their doctor has had other failures.

Most of these patients are experiencing failure VERY early, most before the second anniversary of their original hip surgery date.

It appears that these cases cluster around surgeon’s practices who were heavy users of the Rejuvenate system. We have already been contacted by patients in many states.

Keep posted for more information as it develops. As of now Stryker has only issued a Stryker Rejuvenate Recall in Canada. As far as we know there are no Stryker Rejuvenate lawsuits filed in the United States. It appears the number of Stryker Rejuvenate lawyers or attorneys is very limited at this time.