Stryker Hip Replacements Defective

 Posted on July 23, 2013 in Defective Medical Devices

Hip replacements are one of the most common and yet complicated bone revision surgeries a patient can undergo. According to the University of Missouri Medical Center, “the ideal time for surgery is when other measures, such as medicines, exercise, weight loss, and alternative therapies no longer work.” A hip replacement should be undergone only when hip pain causes a limp and interferes with the enjoyment or ability to complete everyday activities. The University of Missouri Medical Center reports that while neither a metal nor a plastic hip replacement can fully “replicated the complexity, intricate engineering, and healing ability of the human body,” replacement joints, either metal or plastic, are indeed feats of modern science and can, in most cases, bring the patient back to near-full mobility. “Many patients,” the Center states, “experience complete resolution of their pre-surgery pain and discomfort.”

And yet despite these many optimistic benefits, hip replacements are among some of the recalled products in the medical world. In March 2013, according to the New York Times, a Los Angeles jury “ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay more than $8.3 million in damages to a Montana man in the first of more than 10,000 lawsuits pending against the medical products maker in connection with a now-recalled artificial hip.” Another replacement hip manufacturer came under fire this summer when a Chicago woman, according to Chicago CBS Local, became one of hundreds of patients to sue Stryker Medical Devices for a different type of faulty hip replacement.

The woman's attorney told CBS Local that “pieces flake off [the hip replacement] and the two metals together cause the body to react and it also causes the cobalt to leach into the blood stream.” The woman, Diana Jaras, experienced cobalt levels in her blood to be more than 14 times above normal, which triggered the growth of a cyst the size of a football. “When introduced,” reports CBS Local, “Stryker said these modular implants would let surgeons better match the replacement hip to the age, weight, and medical condition of the patient.”

If you or someone you know has been affected by this Stryker hip replacement or any other defective medical device, you may be eligible for compensation. Don't go through it alone. Contact a dedicated defective medical device attorney today.