A couple is joining thousands of others in filing a recent Stryker femoral head lawsuit against manufacturing company, Howmedica Osteonics Corp. in Massachusetts federal court.

The Stryker femoral head lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs Linda and Darryl B. joining a growing multidistrict litigation (MDL) filed against the company. The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 1, 2018.

According to the Stryker femoral head lawsuit, Linda and her spouse, Darryl, are residents and citizens of the state of Kansas. She says that she was implanted with an LFIT Anatomic CoCr V40 Femoral Head on her left hip on March 16, 2012 at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center, in Denver. During the procedure, she was also implanted with a Stryker Restoration femoral stem.

However, Linda claims that due to severe adverse side effects she says she suffered, the device was later explanted on Aug. 2, 2016 at the Mayo Clinic located in Rochester, Minn.

She files the Stryker femoral head lawsuit claiming damages as a result of injury to herself and economic loss. Due to his wife’s injuries, Darryl claims loss of services and loss of consortium.

According to the lawsuit, Linda could not have known that she would suffer from the injuries that resulted from both the LFIT device’s implantation and the Stryker femoral head. In fact, it was only after her blood was drawn that she discovered excessive levels of chromium and cobalt and realized that the device’s defectiveness was attributable to these complications.

The Stryker femoral head lawsuit was filed on multiple counts including negligence, negligence per se, defective design, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, and breach of warranty, as well as for consumer fraud and/or unfair and deceptive trade practices, negligent misrepresentation, loss of consortium, unjust enrichment, and punitive damages.

Overview: Stryker Femoral Head

There have been more than 860,000 hip replacement surgeries performed over the last five years, and predictions are made that the number is only going to rise even higher in the future. In fact, between 2012 and 2017, the American Joint Replacement Registry Annual Report states that number of hip replacement surgeries have increased from 45,000 in 2012 to 280,000 in 2017.

Unfortunately, there have been a serious number of adverse side effects and complications associated with total or partial hip replacements. Most common complications of hip replacement surgeries have included:

• Loss on bone matter
• Fracture
• Dislocation
• Infection
• Limb length disparity
• Detachment or loosening

In August 2016, Stryker issued a voluntary recall of almost 42, 500 LFIT V40 femoral head device components manufactured between Jan. 1, 2002 and March 4, 2011. The reason for the recall was because of multiple complaint reports filed from patients who became injured after taper lock failure.

The Stryker Femoral Head Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-11627-IT, in the U.S. District Court of for the District of Massachusetts. The Stryker V40 Lawsuit is In Re: Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 17-md-2768-IT, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.