Washington, DCSome Stryker hip replacement lawsuits currently pending in a Multi-district Litigation (MDL) in New Jersey Superior Court, Bergen County, are headed to mediation. According to an announcement on May 14, Judge Brian R. Martinotti on April 2, ordered the defendants and the lawyers representing the plaintiffs to each pick five lawsuit for mediation. Discovery and other pretrial matters will continue in the litigation, while mediation takes place.
On January 15, 2013, all cases in New Jersey related to the Stryker Orthopedics Rejuvenate Modular Hip System were consolidated as multicounty litigation by the New Jersey Supreme Court under Judge Brian R. Martinotti of Bergen County Superior Court.
Court documents indicate that at least 145 Stryker hip lawsuits have already been filed in the New Jersey litigation. Last month, Martinotti set forth procedures for the parties to begin selecting cases to move forward toward early mediation. However, his order stipulated that the case against Stryker will continue while mediation takes place, which is what is happening now.
Earlier this year, a number of plaintiffs in federally-filed Stryker hip replacement lawsuits petitioned the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to establish a consolidated proceeding for those claims in a single federal court. Oral Arguments on the matter have been scheduled for May 30th. (In Re: Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, Case Pending No. 20 (JPML))
The Stryker Rejuvenate hip replacement device has been linked to an increased risk of metallosis. Although the Stryker Rejuvenate is not a metal-on-metal hip device, it has metal-on-metal components, which are believed to be responsible for the development of metallosis in some patients. According to reports, the Stryker Rejuvenate hip implant device is linked to a high early failure rate, resulting in some patients having revision surgery to replace their hip replacement device. These alleged defects have prompted hundreds of Stryker Rejuvenate hip lawsuits.
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