Faulty Zimmer Hip Implant Goes to Court

On October 20, 2011, Tina Muetz filed a lawsuit against Zimmer Inc., alleging that the company's Trilogy Acetabular Hip System had failed. Muetz's case, which will be tried in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, comes on the heels of similar lawsuits involving a different Zimmer product – the Metasul Durom Cup, which went through it's own Zimmer hip recall.

Canadian Judge Approves Class Action Zimmer Hip Implant Lawsuit

Canadian hip implant patients who have suffered side effects or complications from use of the Zimmer Durom Cup acetabular device are eligible to join a class action lawsuit against the company, Justice Gregory Bowden has ruled. So far, 35 Canadians have reported problems with the device, but the lawyer responsible for the Zimmer hip class action lawsuit says that ultimately up to 100 Canadians are expected to join the suit.

The Zimmer hip class action lawsuit is welcome news to the patients who have required hip revision surgery or have experienced joint pain, immobility, stiffness, inflammation, and/or diminished range of motion as a result of using the Zimmer Durom Cup.

Initial Zimmer Hip Lawsuits

Zimmer Hip Defects Lead to More and More Lawsuits

A Zimmer hip lawsuit has been filed by Jocelyn Quinn of Louisiana, alleging that she has undergone severe pain and disfigurement due to the failing device. Her case has been transferred into the Zimmer hip multidistrict litigation (MDL) currently being carried out in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. As many as half a million Americans may have the all-metal hip implants, and a sizeable percentage of them are likely to file a lawsuit after their implants fail. The Zimmer Durom Cup was first introduced in the United States in 2006, as a more advanced form of an artificial hip. The hip resurfacing system is designed out of a single piece of material and is supposed to avoid problems associated with traditional hip replacement components, such as instability, limited range of motion and wear of the bearing.

In February 2011, the Food and Drug Administration stated that there are "unique risks" for "metal-on-metal" artificial hips because tiny metal ions can wear off and damage nearby tissue. Patients who have received all metal implants should be aware of potential symptoms which may occur after surgery and indicate that their device is not functioning properly. Over the past two years, concerns have increased about a risk metal hip replacement complications, resulting in use of the implants dropping to just 5% of the artificial hip market. While Zimmer’s own estimates in 2008 suggested that some doctors have experienced failure rates as high as 5.7%, more recent claims suggest that the Durom Cup failure rate is between 20% and 30%.

A temporary Zimmer Durom Cup recall was issued in July 2008, so that revisions could be made to the product’s warnings and instructions to ensure that doctors were properly trained on the surgical techniques needed to implant the artificial hip correctly. According to Quinn’s Zimmer hip lawyer, she never would have had the device installed had she been made aware of the defectiveness of the product. In a statement released on their website, Zimmer stated that a thorough check of the Durom Cup, including evaluation of the manufacturing processes, design specifications and product documentation, failed to reveal any evidence of a defect in the artificial hip part.

Consolidation of Zimmer Knee Lawsuits, Leads Many to Hope For Settlements

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has ordered that all personal injury lawsuits involving Zimmer NexGen knee implant components currently pending in federal courts throughout the U.S. be consolidated in a multidistrict litigation and transferred to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The multidistrict litigation process, more commonly referred to as the Zimmer NexGen MDL, is often confused with a class action lawsuit against Zimmer. While the MDL and a Zimmer NexGen knee class action lawsuit have many similarities during pretrial proceedings, each claim remains an individual lawsuit, where the plaintiff must establish that their injuries were caused by Zimmer knee problems and each claim will be decided individually be a jury.

Zimmer Argues Health Risks Of NexGen Components

Zimmer Hip Replacement Problems Spark Complaints

In 2011 alone, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received more than 5,000 consumer complaints related to metal-on-metal hip implant devices. One such device is Zimmer Inc.'s Metasul Durom Cup, a hip replacement device recommended to young, active patients who are expected to outlive the useful life of traditional hip replacement products.

Zimmer Hip Replacement Shows High Rate of Failure

Zimmer hip replacement problems went public in 2008, when Dr. Larry Dorr reported that the Metasul Durom cup had a high Zimmer hip failure and replacement rate. Dr. Dorr, who has conducted thousands of hip replacement surgeries, revealed that more than 8% of his hip replacement patients required Zimmer hip revision surgery to remove the device, many within two years of implantation. As of July 2008, 12,000 people in the United State had already received Durom Cup hip replacements. If Dr. Dorr's statistics hold true, almost 1,000 would require removal and replacement.

Zimmer Knee Problems Result of Faulty Device

It is estimated that approximately 130,000 patients receive knee replacements each year to treat deterioration caused by arthritis, osteoarthritis and other causes. Zimmer Holdings, a world leader in knee replacement devices, manufactures the NexGen CR-Flex device, which has been marketed as the knee replacement of the future. Featuring a unique, cementless design, the model was designed to give patients a much wider range of motion compared to other knee replacement devices.

The Zimmer Knee and NexGen Defects

However, the NexGen CR-Flex has received serious criticism due to reports of faulty craftsmanship and a partial product recall in September 2010. The recall was based on the device presenting a "nonconforming and inconsistent geometry." The model is reported to fail by loosening at the femur joint, in effect reducing a patient's range of movement and causing significant pain. Affected patients must undergo additional procedures, including premature Zimmer revision surgery, to correct the problem.

In Chicago, a multi-district litigation (MDL) has formed to protect patients who have fallen victim to Zimmer knee problems. At the time of its formation, the MDL consisted of 73 plaintiffs and was slated for the U.S. District Court in Chicago's Northern District of Illinois. Since the first filing, many more plaintiffs have joined – and still more are expected to come onboard. The MDL will help streamline the pre-trial process, making Zimmer lawsuits more efficient and hopefully producing quick results.

Zimmer Hip Settlements Could Be Ahead

A number of people have already filed Zimmer Hip Lawsuit against orthopedics manufacturing company Zimmer, whose responsibility for the hip replacement device known as the Durom Cup has seen many people turn their attention in the company’s direction—but most of the press is negative. Democrats on the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce are getting involved—questioning why harmful brain stents and metal-on-metal Zimmer hip replacement recall continue to be sold throughout the United States with little oversight. 

Metal-on-metal hip replacement systems like the Zimmer Durom cup come in a variety of models from a variety of manufacturers but often side effects are the same. Component loosening, soft tissue damage, bone fracture, metal poisoning (metallosis), premature device dislocation, and Zimmer hip revision surgery are all directly linked to metal-on-metal hip replacement systems. This is worrisome to some House Democrats, who hope to convince Republicans that this issue needs to be looked into with greater depth.

Zimmer patients who have experienced severe side effects already know the issues that brought the devices to the attention of a part of the United States’ government. Zimmer actually recalled the Durom cup for a short time, claiming that they fixed the problems associated with it, but patients are still skeptical—especially those who have had to undergo hip revision surgery, a complex procedure that comes with a number of its own risks. 

Those who have experienced side effects of metal-on-metal hip replacement systems like the Zimmer Durom cup should contact a lawyer as quickly as possible to ensure that they stay within the statute of limitations for their state.