Defective Knee Implant Legal News Articles & Interviews

Los Angeles, CA: Zimmer, the maker of NexGen knee replacements and the defendant in a defective products multi-district litigation (MDL) has reached a preliminary settlement with the plaintiffs in the longstanding MDL.

Jackson, MI: Whenever an individual files a defective knee implant lawsuit, the focus is normally – and correctly – on the failed component due to an alleged design, or manufacturing defect. But a companion issue just as devastating as the failure of the implant is, for the patient, a requirement for revision surgery to eradicate the problematic implant and replace it with another one. Revision surgery is usually, a more complex procedure.

Santa Cruz, CA:The study, published in the Bone & Joint Journal, finds that the rate of metal-on-metal (MoM) hip implant patients undergoing revision has increased over time. Researchers at the Universities of Oxford and Bristol have suggested the observed differences are in part due to increased patient surveillance. In the U.S., patient surveillance is pretty much left up to the patient.

Tampa, FL: The pain started right after Sandra had a Smith & Nephew knee replacement. “It never functioned properly and I never did get back a full range of motion like I was told,” says Sandra. “I had this metal-on-metal knee implant because my knee was bone-on-bone. This knee implant was supposed to make me better, not worse.”

Dallas, TX: In a recent hip replacement trial, plaintiffs’ lawyer showed to the jury records whereby DePuy paid its Pinnacle hip "design surgeons" more than $184 million in royalties that he argued were kickbacks. And jurors watched a video of a 2008 DePuy sales conference themed “Taking Share of Business”. To the lyrics of “Takin’ Care of Business” by the rock group Bachman-Turner Overdrive, DePuy’s former top marketer leads a parade with costumed alligators, a bloodied man with a hatchet and a giant metal hip implant. The plaintiffs won.

Boston, MA: With the date for the first bellwether hip replacement implant failure trial involving failed Stryker femoral heads now established for September, 2019 attention has shifted to a compelling questionnaire the Howmedica defense team has issued to plaintiffs as part of the deposition process.

Santa Clara, CA: It’s pretty much a straightforward decision for most of the 700,000 people in the U.S. who experience knee pain yearly: have a knee replacement or live the rest of your life in pain. But for some people implanted with a defective knee such as the DePuy Synthes Attune device, they made the wrong decision and the consequences have been brutal. As a result, they are filing knee replacement lawsuits against DePuy, alleging premature failure of the Attune device.

Philadelphia, PA: Iris has been on a steady diet of Oxycodone for over a year because the pain from her hip replacement has been worsening. And three hip revision surgeries have just exacerbated the problem.

San Jose, CA: Mike says he’s in worse shape now with his DePuy Synthes Attune knee replacement system than when he was injured after falling off a ladder. And he’s pissed off, to say the least.

Washington, DC: When the Smith & Nephew Journey Deuce Bi-Compartmental Knee System was introduced in 2007, it was billed as “a new, innovative solution that may give nearly 70% (sic) of all patients receiving a total knee replacement a more minimally invasive, bone and ligament preserving treatment alternative,” so stated a press release issued by the manufacturer on July 9, 2007. Would such platitudes, three years ahead of a knee replacement failure recall, placate any plaintiff filing a Smith & Nephew lawsuit?