Stryker Corporation, which is a manufacturer of medical devices, has paid out more than $1 billion for lawsuits filed by patients who required revision surgery due to faulty hip replacements. The announcement of the settlement was made in early November 2014 in the Bergen County Courthouse in New Jersey. Superior Court Judge Brian Martinotti presided over the announcement.
The proposed agreement states that each patient who underwent revision surgery will receive $300,000. Stryker was forced to issue a worldwide recall of the hip implants in 2012 after 4,000 patients in 39 states filed lawsuits in both New Jersey state court and in U.S. federal court in Minnesota before District Judge David Frank.
The devices that caused the most issues in the lawsuits and that were eventually recalled were the ABG II and Rejuvenate metal-on-metal hip replacements. The patients who filed the lawsuits claimed that the hip replacements released metal particles into their blood and tissue. This caused swelling, intense pain, and other problems that required revision surgery in order to replace the implants.
Terms of the Stryker Settlement
Stryker was able to reach a settlement in the case before it went to trial, which might have saved the company millions of dollars despite the settlement hitting $1.4 billion. Per the terms of the settlement, any hip replacement patient who underwent revision surgery for the Rejuvenate or ABG II device before November 3, 2014, is eligible for money from the settlement. This includes patients who have not yet filed a claim, but had the revision surgery before the November 3, 2014 cutoff date.
As of right now, each patient is allotted close to $300,000 in the settlement. However, if a patient had to undergo multiple revision surgeries, he or she could be in line for a higher payout. If a patient had more severe injuries, such as a heart attack, a stroke, a foot drop, or death, he or she could see the payout increase to as much as $600,000.
Per the settlement agreement, patients who did not have revision surgery because it is too risky might also be eligible for a payout. Patients who did not have the surgery include people who are older or sickly. These patients could see a payout of close to $210,000, which is a 30% reduction in the award.
Stryker has said that it hopes to issue the majority of its payments in the settlement by the end of 2015. Any patient who is not happy with the payout terms in the settlement can opt out of the agreement and pursue their claim against Stryker in court.
If you or a loved one suffered an injury or infection from a defective Stryker hip replacement, contact the office of Carey, Danis & Lowe at 877-678-3400 or fill out our contact form. We will be in touch within 24 hours to discuss your case as well as the next steps that should be taken.
