Consolidation of Stryker Rejuvenate Hip Lawsuits Placed in New Jersey

The state of New Jersey is expected to consolidate at least ten StrykerRejuvenate and ABGII hip implant lawsuits before one judge in order to expedite the handling of these cases. Multi-district and multi-county litigation is described by Class Action Litigation website as a procedure utilized by federal and state courts to transfer all pending cases which are very similar in nature before one judge. This procedure allows lawsuits to move in a more expeditious manner through the discovery phase while still allowing the injured party to seek an individual trial and have their settlement adjusted based on the degree of injury. This is unlike class action lawsuits which dictate that all members share equally in the settlement even though it is unlikely that all injuries would be equal. The first ten cases are coming from Florida, Minnesota, New Jersey and Arizona. Hackensack, NJ was chosen as the consolidation point because it is close to Stryker headquarters. 

 Problems With Rejuvenate and ABGII

The lawsuits followed the recall in July of 2012 for the Rejuvenate and ABGII. The recall was voluntary on the part of Stryker and cited the risk of fretting, corrosion and the release of metal ions as the reason for the recall. Pain, inflammation, necrosis, metallosis and total failure of the hip implant can all result from the fretting and corrosion of the hip implants. These implants were originally marketed as a way for younger clients to be able to continue their levels of activity as they were believed to last from 15-20 years. Stryker’s innovative design offered a variety of necks and stems, allowing physicians to more closely match the implant to the size and activity level of the patient. Even though the Rejuvenate and ABGII are not all-metal (they have a ceramic ball and a plastic cup liner) they have the same potential for the release of metal ions into the body as the all-metal implants.

The metal neck and stem junction as well as the metal trundles at each end of the neck piece can rub against one another during periods of activity, causing corrosion which results in metal debris. Removing these devices can be extremely difficult and potentially dangerous. The stem of the Rejuvenate and ABGII are inserted deeply into the femur and can be very difficult to remove without fracturing the femur. The recovery period for revision surgery from a Rejuvenate or ABGII is generally much longer than for the original surgery. While metal toxicity can be very dangerous, many patients are asymptomatic until there are extremely high levels of metals in the body.

The Future of Stryker

The New York Times states that as many as half a million people were implanted with the metal-on-metal implants and it is believed that in the three years since FDA approval at least 20,000 patients received an ABGII or Rejuvenate implant. It is likely that more lawsuits are yet to come as more and more recipients of these two Stryker hip implants suffer fretting, corrosion and metal toxicity. Stryker reported a dip in revenues for their third quarter and an almost ten percent drop in hip implant sales, likely due in part to the recall. 

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