A Texas couple has joined the multidistrict litigation in Georgia seeking compensation for complications related to the Wright Conserve hip implant.

Plaintiff James S. says he underwent hip replacement surgery in January 2009, receiving a Conserve hip implant system manufactured by defendant Wright Medical Technology Inc.

Later that year, James began to suffer “pain, discomfort, dysfunction, and other symptoms” in his replacement hip. He had to have the Conserve implant surgically removed in August 2012, the metal hip implant lawsuit says.

James is now suing Wright Medical Technology Inc., alleging the company’s actions are accountable for his hip implant complications and subsequent explantation surgery.

His claims are based on theories of negligence, defective product design, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of warranty, fraud, misrepresentation, violation of Texas state consumer protection laws, and infliction of emotional distress.

James’s wife Barbara is bringing her own claim for loss of consortium. Loss of consortium is a type of claim that the spouse of an injured person can bring to seek compensation for the harm done to the marital relationship.

Together, the couple is seeking compensation for pain and suffering, past and future medical expenses, lost earnings and lost earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium.  They are also seeking awards of punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.

Wright Hip Implant Lawsuits

Wright’s Conserve and Profemur are two among many different hip implant systems that have been the subject of recent products liability litigation.

In the Conserve cases, plaintiffs generally allege the Conserve metal-on-metal hip implant sheds tiny particles of metal into the recipient’s body. This shedding in turn can lead to metal toxicity, infection, and the death of bone and other tissue, say plaintiffs.

Other plaintiffs have alleged the devices failed outright, requiring surgical removal or replacement. The Profemur system has been the subject of some claims alleging failure of the device at its neck.

At least one plaintiff in California has successfully sued Wright over his Profemur R implant, winning $4.5 million in damages in June 2015. Wright also settled one other Profemur R claim for an undisclosed amount in November 2013.

The Wright Conserve multidistrict litigation, or MDL, has been going on since February 2012, when the federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) transferred four hip implant lawsuits to a federal court in Georgia for consolidated pretrial procedures. By June 2015, the MDL had grown to over 400 claims.

This MDL is generally limited to claims over Wright’s various Conserve systems. Claims related to the Profemur system may be added, but only if they relate to metal-on-metal design flaws.

The federal court system sometimes consolidates similar cases into an MDL to resolve pretrial issues efficiently and consistently. The MDL is frequently used in the case of large-scale products liability litigation like these Wright hip implant lawsuits.

The Wright hip implant MDL is underway in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, MDL no. 2329.