Move to Consolidate Stryker Lawsuits

Searcy Denney had been consulting with injured hip replacement patients even before the July recall of the Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II hip prosthesis. Since then our firm has joined a petition to have our plaintiff’s cases consolidated in a New Jersey state court in multicounty litigation.

Much like multidistrict litigation (MDL) that consolidates civil cases in federal courts, multicounty litigation amasses lawsuits with a similar injury and product liability complaint to move them in a more expeditious manner through the discovery phase of the trial. The benefit to plaintiffs and defendants is that rulings are consistently applied and there is less duplication and confusion as we move ahead.

Both multicounty and multidistrict litigation still allow the injured to seek an individual trial and their settlement will be adjusted to their degree of injury. A class-action lawsuit requires all members to share equally in any monetary award, despite the fact that not all injuries are equal.

The first 10 cases signing onto the petition are from all over the country including Florida, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Arizona. We have chosen Hackensack, New Jersey because it is close to the headquarters of Stryker, maker of the Rejuvenate and ABG II which the company recalled July 6, 2012 due to the high number of patient complaints including early revision, a dislocation of the hip, infection, and pain.

Remember, these were hip implants marketed as a way for the younger client to continue with their active lifestyle because the device offered six different stems which fit into the femur and 16 different necks of vary sizes. The ABG II offered 10 different necks and 16 different stems. Removing one of these stems is a patient’s worst nightmare in that they are hammered into the femur and difficult to remove without splintering the bone.

As with other metal-on-metal (MoM) hips, the Stryker versions were supposed to be superior, however with a metal neck and stem junction, fretting and/or corrosion occurs leaving metal debris that is finding its way into the blood and tissue of Stryker patients.

Just like MoM hip implant patients, the Stryker version is requiring revision or removal surgery well in advance of its 15 year lifespan as patients slowly experience metallosis, or toxic metal poisoning.

Unfortunately much of this damage is done as the patient is asymptomatic, therefore unaware of what is happening until it’s too late. At the very least, if you have a Stryker hip implant, have your blood tested.