The manufacturer of the recalled Stryker Rejuvenate and AGB II hip replacement systems has agreed to pay more than $1 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits filed by patients who required revision surgery to repair damage caused by the medical devices.

The Stryker Rejuvenate and AGB II are a type of metal-on-metal hip implant that came under fire after a July 2012 recall informed consumers that the devices are prone to premature failure. Evidence has surfaced that metal-on-metal hip implants like the Rejuveate and AGB II may suffer from a number of unique problems, leading to tens of thousands of hip replacement lawsuits over allegations of complications.

The hip replacement complications occur when the metal surfaces of metal-on-metal hip implants rub against each other, causing problems such as microscopic bits of metal flaking off. While the various alloys in metal-on-metal hip implants are considered harmless normally, these microscopic flakes dissolve more easily, allegedly forming toxic metal ions inside the body. This could cause a host of problems, including pseudotumor formation, neurological problems, and heart problems.

Additionally, it has been alleged that metal-on-metal hip implants suffer a higher failure rate and often require hip revision surgery—the replacement of the hip implant. These concerns led to the 2012 Styker hip recall.

In early November, Stryker agreed to a massive settlement of roughly $300,000 per Stryker hip lawsuit. Some factors could alter the exact value of the individual payouts, including the age of the plaintiff, health prior to the surgery, and other factors that could have contributed to the premature failure of the Stryker hip joint.

Conversely, some factors could actually increase the Stryker hip settlement amount a plaintiff could receive. For example, if a plaintiff was otherwise young and healthy, it could be argued that it is easier to establish that their hip replacement system was defective.

Stryker is currently facing more than 4,000 individual product liability lawsuits, and as many as 20,000 Stryker hip implants were in play when the Stryker hip recall went into effect.

A Claims Administrator has been appointed to help distribute funds from the Stryker hip settlement, and a stay on all discovery in the Stryker hip litigation has been ordered until September 2015.

The Stryker hip MDL is In Re: Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2441, filed in the US District Court for the District of Minnesota.