Stryker Hip Lawsuits Move Forward, With Issuance of New Case Management Order in New Jersey LFIT V40 Femoral Head Litigation

Published on August 4, 2017 by Sandy Liebhard

Stryker hip replacement lawsuits involving the company’s LFIT Anatomic CoCr V40 Femoral Heads are moving forward, following the issuance of a new Case Management Order in New Jersey’s Bergen County Superior Court.

According to the August 1^st Order, the multicounty litigation convened its most recent conference on July 31, 2017. The Order also directs the parties to meet and confer on a number of issues, including:

• Pleadings: Parties must come to agreement on long and short-term pleadings by August 11, 2017. If no agreement is reached, they must brief the Court on any remaining issues by August 25^th, with arguments to be heard at the litigation’s next Case Management Conference.
• Fact Sheets: Parties are to come to an agreement by September 15, 2017.
• Written Discovery Drafts: Parties are to meet and confer on the timing of objections to plaintiffs’ First Request for Production of Documents and other Tangible Things by August 21, 2017.
• Protective Order: Parties are to submit a protective order by August 11, 2017. The Court is to be briefed on any remaining issues regarding the order no later than August 25^th, with arguments to be heard at the next Case Management Conference.

What Are These Stryker Hip Lawsuits About?

Stryker’s LFIT Anatomic CoCr V40 Femoral Heads are constructed from a chromium/cobalt alloy, and can be combined with several of the company’s modular hip implant components, including:

• Accolade TMZF
• Accolade 2 Stems
• Meridian Stems
• Citation Stems

Plaintiffs participating in the LFIT V40 femoral head litigation claim that Stryker has known for years that the components were defective, but downplayed their dangers and failed to provide doctors and patients with appropriate safety warnings.

Stryker recalled certain LFIT CoCr V40 Femoral Heads in August 2016, after the components had been associated with a “higher than expected number of complaints involving taper lock failure.”  Taper lock failure can result in adverse local tissue reactions, dislocation, and other debilitating complications that may cause premature failure of the implant and the need for revision surgery.

All of the Stryker hip components affected by the LFIT V40 femoral head recall were manufactured prior to 2011.  The recalled catalog numbers and sizes include:

• Catalog #6260-9-236; Head diameter 36mm; Offset +5
• Catalog #6260-9-240; Head diameter 40mm; Offset +4
• Catalog #6260-9-244; Head diameter 44mm; Offset +4
• Catalog #6260-9-340; Head diameter 40mm; Offset +8
• Catalog #6260·9-440; Head diameter 40mm; Offset +12
• Catalog #6260-9-344; Head diameter 44mm; Offset +8
• Catalog #6260-9-444; Head diameter 44mm; Offset +12.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) designated Stryker’s action a Class II recall, which indicates that the affected devices could cause temporary or medically reversible health effects.

It should be noted that Stryker hip lawsuits involving non-recalled LFIT V40 femoral heads are also eligible for inclusion in the Bergen County litigation.