A Los Angeles jury has awarded a $4.5 million product liability verdict to a man claiming to have been injured as a result of a defective metal-on-metal hip implant device manufactured by Wright Medical Technology, Inc.
Plaintiff Alan Warner sued the company, alleging that the Wright Profemur R hip replacement system he received in 2007 failed when the femoral neck stem fractured. According to details from the National Law Journal, the jury found that the device was defective in its manufacturing, but not its design. Warner claimed his implant failed after only three years, far less than the 15 to 20-year lifespan the company promoted.
This case is the first of the more than 1,000 lawsuits against Wright Medical to go to trial. Most of the defective hip implant suits have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings in the Los Angeles Superior Court or the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Wright is among several hip replacement manufacturers that are defending product liability claims brought by recipients of defective implants. As reported in a November 2014 post, Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Stryker Corporation agreed to make payments of more than $1.4 billion to thousands of individuals implanted with its Rejuvenate and ABG II hip replacement systems. The devices, manufactured by Stryker subsidiary Howmedica Osteonics Corp., were recalled in 2012 due to high failure rates related to tissue damage caused by corrosion and fretting of the devices metal components. Similar allegations have been brought over implants produced by Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopedics division, Smith & Nephew, and Biomet.
If you or a loved one received a hip implant are experiencing decreased mobility, inflammation and swelling, hip joint dislocation, hip joint infection, or severe pain in the hip, groin or thigh, please contact the attorneys in Sommers Schwartz’s Personal Injury Litigation Group today to discuss your situation. Depending on your circumstances, you may be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, medical expenses and other economic losses.
Robert B. Sickels
For more than 30 years, Robert Sickels has successfully represented plaintiffs involved in complex personal injury, medical negligence, and products liability matters.
