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LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION

Jury Awards $11M Verdict In Wright Hip Implant Bellwether Lawsuit



Santa Clara, CA: Update: 4.5.16: Further to the 2015 award of $11 million to plaintiff Robyn Christiansen, in her bellweather defective products lawsuit against Wright Medical Technology, a decision made in early April 2016 will reduce the punitive damages award from $10 million to $1.1 million. The court let stand the $1 million award for compensatory damages.

In November 2015, a jury has awarded an $11 million verdict against Wright Medical Technology Inc, the makers of allegedly defective Wright Conserve Hip Implant Systems. Considered a bellweather trial in multidistrict litigation (MDL), the Atlanta jury found the plaintiff did have a defective hip implant, and that Wright had misrepresented the safety of the device.

According to court documents, the verdict included $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. Robyn Christiansen, the plaintiff, is one of about 2,000 people who filed a complaint or entered a tolling agreement after receiving allegedly defective Wright Conserve Hip Implant Systems. She filed her suit in 2013, 7 years after receiving her implant.

According to the complaint, Christiansen underwent surgery to receive the implant in 2006, based on information provided by Wright that the metal-on-metal design was better compared with those made a polyethylene lining.

Christiansen began experiencing severe pain in her right hip in 2012, during exercise. She underwent surgery to correct what her doctor thought to be a loose component. However, during the surgery her doctor discovered the surrounding soft tissue had been damaged by metal debris that was causing the hip to fail, according to the complaint.

"A former ski instructor for over 47 years, Ms. Christiansen is now limited in her ability to enjoy the things she has always loved to do, such as water-skiing and hiking," according to a written statement provided on behalf of the plaintiff's counsel.

The case is In re: Wright Medical Technology Inc., Conserve Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, case number 1:12-md-02329, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

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Published on Nov-26-15


READER COMMENTS

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Is it too late to join the Wright lawsuit? I have two of them and have had nothing but pain with them. I asked a doctor at Mayo clinic why my hip clicks, he said, "probably arthritis" I reminded him they were artificial hips. Who to trust?!

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