A woman has filed a lawsuit over her failed Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant.

Plaintiff Sue H. alleges she received her artificial hip in March 2007, by which time the FDA had received numerous adverse event reports regarding the Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant.

“Consequently, Biomet was fully aware that the M2a Magnum Hip System was defective and that dozens of patients already had been injured by that defect,” says Sue’s lawsuit.

Still, the company did not recall the Magnum before it was sold to Sue, who alleges Biomet should have at the very least stopped selling the defective hip system when the company became aware it had injured so many patients.

Problems with Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant

The Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant is a metal-on-metal system. Metal hip implants have been found to cause excessive amounts of cobalt and chromium metals to corrode and wear from the surfaces of the parts scraping against one another during movement.

Cobalt and chromium pieces can then invade the nearby tissues, causing the tissues and bone to die.

Sue says she developed metal poisoning (metallosis), fluid retention and the destruction of both bone and tissue. She had to endure “a complicated and risky surgery to remove and replace the defective implant.”

Hip Implant Rejection

Most hip replacements use of a plastic or ceramic liner, but the Magnum’s crucial difference is that it allows metal to rub against metal while bearing the weight of the patient’s body. The alleged design defect is that cobalt and chromium pieces fret away and over time, the fragments cause the body to reject the hip implant system.

Rejection is generally presented by symptoms of pain, loosening, dislocation or squeaking and popping sounds. Meanwhile, inside the hip joint, fluid accumulates and soft tissues and bone die from the metal corrosion.

The Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant lawsuit alleges the hip implant system was never sufficiently tested prior to going on the market. Still, Biomet representatives met with orthopedic surgeons across the country to promote the Magnum as not only a safe product, but the best product on the market that “had an excellent track record and a low and acceptable failure rate.”

Biomet allegedly continued to market the Magnum as a safe and effective hip implant system even after the company became aware that patients were experiencing severe complications. The FDA has received more than 350 adverse event reports affiliated with the Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant.

Plaintiffs claim Biomet allegedly concealed the defect in the Magnum because it was trying to look appealing to investors. Biomet was bought by a private equity firm for $10 billion in 2007.

“The last thing Biomet wanted to do was to admit that these popular products had a critical defect that could cause a premature failure, forcing patients to have to undergo another painful surgery,” says the Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant lawsuit.

The Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-00131-RLM-MGG in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.