A Georgia woman recently added to the growing pile of litigation against Stryker over defects associated with her LFIT V40 hip implant, which she alleges caused metallosis and required revision surgery.

The plaintiff, Martha C., says she was implanted with an LFIT V40 hip implant in her right hip on Dec. 20, 2010, at a Georgia hospital. The specific device used was the Accolade TMZF.

Unfortunately, the LFIT V40 femoral head component has been associated with a number of risks, and Martha says she began suffering from side effects in the years following implantation.

Like many others, Martha alleges she was suffering from injuries caused by excessive levels of chromium and cobalt in her bloodstream and tissue, which came from the LFIT V40 hip implant device itself. This condition, known as metallosis, can cause serious damage to tissue and bone.

Eventually, Martha had to have the femoral head itself explanted on Aug. 9, 2017, as a result of her injuries. She alleges that she was not adequately warned about these risks—and had she known, she would have chosen a safer alternative.

Martha filed her LFIT V40 hip implant lawsuit on July 3, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including negligence, defective design, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of express and implied warranties, and several others. Martha’s husband also filed on one count of loss of consortium.

Stryker Hip Recall

Hip surgery is one of the more common procedures in the United States and is used to alleviate hip pain often caused by arthritis and hip fractures.

The Stryker V40 recall was issued over reports of taper lock failure associated with the LFIT V40 femoral head. This recall came after reports of side effects associated with the V40 component, including metallosis, a kind of metal poisoning that can occur when the two metal components of a metal-on-metal device rub together, releasing metal particles.

In this case, the Stryker implant allegedly released cobalt and chromium particles, moving into the bloodstream. Excessive amounts of metal can travel through the blood and damage or kill off surrounding tissue and nearby bone.

Since the recalled component can be used interchangeably with other Stryker products, several Stryker implants may be affected by the Stryker hip recall. These include the Accolade TMZF, Accolade 2 (included in this lawsuit), Citation stems, and Meridian stems. The defective component in all of these devices is the LFIT V40 hip implant femoral head, associated with device failure and related complications. Stryker hip implants have also been linked with dislocation and dissociation of the device.

Serious side effects like device failure or metallosis can require revision surgery to fix and replace the defective device. However, revision surgery brings with it its own risks and further medical expenses.

Filing a Stryker Hip Lawsuit

Martha is far from the first LFIT V40 hip implant patient to turn to litigation after metallosis or other injuries.

If you or someone you love was implanted with a metal hip implant included in the Stryker hip recall and have since suffered from these or other side effects, you may be able to file a lawsuit. While filing a Stryker hip recall lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by hip implant defects, it can help to alleviate the financial burden of medical expenses and lost wages from these injuries.

The LFIT V40 Hip Implant Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-11400-IT, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.