Stryker Agrees To Settle Hip Implant Suits For $1.43B

By Jof Enriquez,
Follow me on Twitter @jofenriq

After months of mediation with plaintiffs, Stryker Corporation recently agreed to settle more than 4,000 suits over defective all-metal artificial hip implants for at least $1.43 billion.

Kim Catullo, a lawyer for Stryker, told U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti in Hackensack, New Jersey that the company would give a base payment of $300,000 for each patient who had an implant surgically removed due to complications prior to November 3, 2014, according to a Bloomberg report. Patients who needed multiple surgeries could be awarded with more compensation for their injuries, subject to certain conditions.

The accord covers some 3,000 patients in New Jersey, and 1,800 other cases consolidated before U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank in St. Paul, Minnesota, the report said. Stryker said it would make most of the payments by the end of 2015.

“The health and well-being of patients is Stryker’s top priority,” said Bill Huffnagle, president, reconstructive division, Stryker orthopaedics, according to a website announcing the settlement agreement. “Following our voluntary recall and our patient support program for recall related care, this Settlement Program provides patients compensation in a fair, timely and efficient manner.”

“Some lawsuits, however, will remain and Stryker Orthopaedics will continue to defend against remaining claims,” Stryker added in the announcement.

Stryker voluntarily recalled its Modular Rejuvenate and ABG II Femoral Hip Implants in July 2012 after patients complained of pain, swelling, and tissue damage shortly after being implanted with the devices. Personal injury claims increased sharply after the recall.

Ben Gordon, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, said the devices consisted of two different metals, which eventually led to “fretting,” according to MPR News. "The fretting led to rust, essentially — oxidation and corrosion between the two unlike metals and that led to massive tissue damage," he said.

All-metal hip implants once accounted for one in three of the approximately 250,000 hip replacement procedures annually in the U.S., according to the New York Times. But after evidence confirmed that the devices could leak metal ions into the bloodstream and had high failure rates, orthopedic surgeons have since returned to implanting artificial hips made up of a combination of plastic and metal.

Another manufacturer of all-metal hip implants, Johnson & Johnson, agreed last year to settle some 8,000 claims for nearly $2.5 billion. J&J is said to be planning to pay an additional $250 million to pay 1,000 more claimants.