Hip Replacement Manufacturers Settle 2,000 Hip Implant Lawsuits
A manufacturer of metal-on-metal hip implants has recently settled thousands of the lawsuits filed against it by dissatisfied patients who received the implants. Plaintiffs in California and Georgia are slated to receive settlement checks for their injuries caused by these defective medical devices.
The manufacturer, Wright Medical Technology, settled claims relating to three of its hip implant products, with the most problematic of these being the Conserve Cup hip implant. Wright obtained a patent for the Conserve Cup via the expedited patent approval process, allowing them to avoid having to subject their device to extensive testing to prove its safety. The Conserve Cup is made of two cobalt-chromium components, femoral head and acetabular cup with no liner. Without a liner, the two metal components would rub together and release toxic metal debris into the bodies of those with the implants. These metals caused numerous dangerous side effects in patients such as elevated cobalt and chromium ion levels, metallosis, necrotic tissue, and even systemic reactions to the metal in patients’ skin, kidneys, thyroid, brain, and heart.
Wright Medical failed to warn those who received a Conserve Cup implant of the risks patients undertook by getting one of these implants, despite being aware of the occurrence of side effects such as these in metal-on-metal implants. Instead, Wright touted the Conserve Cup as a long-lasting hip replacement for young and physically-active patients, asserting in marketing materials that the hip replacements would last for 15 to 20 years. By 2011, a UK-based organization focused on joint health reported that the Conserve Cup had an 8.36% revision rate within five years of the device being implanted.
Wright Medical Technology recently announced that it had reached a settlement agreement with 85% of the 2,600 individuals who filed suit against the company after being injured by their hip implants. The largest settlements will go to those who received Conserve Cup hip implants and needed subsequent revision surgeries; those patients can expect settlements of up to $170,000. Those who had a Dynasty or Lineage metal liner and required surgery could receive settlements of up to $120,000, and hundreds more who were injured but did not have revision surgery will also receive a smaller settlement amount.
If you’re a California resident who has been injured by a defective hip implant such as the Conserve Cup or DePuy ASR, find out if you may have a right to money damages for your injuries by contacting the knowledgeable, aggressive, and trial-ready Los Angeles defective medical device lawyers at Magaña, Cathcart & McCarthy for a consultation, at 310-553-6630.
