Stryker Hip Replacement Lawsuit Filings Continue in Wake of LFIT V40 Femoral Head Recall

Published on February 22, 2017 by Sandy Liebhard

Stryker hip replacement lawsuits involving the LFIT V40 femoral head continue to mount in courts around the U.S. One of the most recent cases was filed on February 3^rd on behalf of a Florida man who was forced to undergo additional hip surgeries after doctors determined that his Stryker components had corroded and released toxic metal ions into his body.

According to a complaint now pending in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Francis T. Hassett received Stryker’s Accolade TMZF Hip Stem and LFIT Anatomic V40 Femoral Head during a right hip replacement in 2009. He received the same components during a left hip replacement in 2011. By 2016, however, Mr. Hassett was forced to undergo revision to remove and replace both hips after he experienced an adverse local tissue reaction, as well as chromium and cobalt toxicity.

Mr. Hassett claims that his hip prostheses were defectively designed and manufactured, and accuses Stryker of withholding important safety information from the pubic and medical community. His complaint points out that research has shown that the combination of dissimilar metals causes corrosion and poses a danger to hip replacement patients. Yet Stryker falsely claimed that its unique hip device could resist corrosion and fretting.

“Had Plaintiff’s surgeon received a proper or adequate warning as to the risks associated with using the Accolade Stem and its combination with chromium/cobalt femoral heads, he would  not have recommended the device; or would have used an alternate device; or at a minimum, would have provided Plaintiff with adequate warning and obtained his informed consent,” the complaint asserts.

Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head Recall

Last August, Stryker issued an “Urgent Medical Device Recall Notification” warning that certain LFIT V40 Femoral Heads manufactured prior to 2011 had been associated with a “higher than expected number of complaints involving taper lock failure of the recalled femoral heads.”  While doctors were advised to monitor Stryker hip recipients for problems possibly related to this issue, the notification did not seek return of the devices and or direct surgeons to notify patients. In November, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) designated Stryker’s action a Class II recall, its second most serious type of safety notification.

Last month, plaintiffs pursuing Stryker hip lawsuits that cite the LFIT V40 Femoral Head filed a petition with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) seeking centralization of all federally-filed cases in the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts. The JPML is scheduled to hear Oral Arguments on the matter during its March 30^th Hearing Session in Phoenix, Arizona.