A jury awarded $11 million to the plaintiff in the first bellwether trial involving the Wright Medical Conserve hip replacement system.

This plaintiff’s hip implant lawsuit is one of nearly 2,000 people who filed a complaint after receiving allegedly defective Wright Conserve Hip Implant Systems.

The Atlanta jury found after a two-week trial and three days of deliberations that the plaintiff had a defective hip implant and that Wright Medical misrepresented the device’s safety.

The $11 million verdict, which includes $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages, marks an early loss for Wright Medical in federal multidistrict litigation over its metal on metal hip implants.

The Amsterdam-based medical device maker still faces hundreds of cases filed before U.S. District Judge William Duffey in the Northern District of Georgia.

“We’re hopeful that this will be a springboard to a global resolution,” the plaintiff’s attorney stated. “In picking this particular bellwether case, everybody, including the court, was trying to find a middle-of-the-road case. It wasn’t a strong plaintiff’s case, it wasn’t a strong defense case. This gives a pretty good understanding of what a reasonable jury is likely to award in these cases.”

The hip implant lawsuit dates back to 2013, when Robyn C., a former ski instructor from Utah, filed her complaint against Wright claiming that her Conserve hip implant came loose and caused tissue damage.

Robyn got the implant in 2006 after talking to her doctor and considering information provided by Wright, which said that the company’s metal-on-metal device was better than implants made with a polyethylene lining and that it would last longer.

Six years later, Robyn started having severe pain in her right hip. When she had corrective surgery, the doctor found that surrounding soft tissue was damaged by metal debris from the hip implant, prompting Robyn to sue Wright over the hip implant complications.

“A former ski instructor for over 47 years, [Robyn] is now limited in her ability to enjoy the things she has always loved to do, such as water-skiing and hiking,” according to a written statement released by Robyn’s attorneys.

According to her lawsuit, the implant was supposed to last 15-20 years.

Bellwether Trials and Hip Implant Lawsuits

Robyn’s hip implant lawsuit was selected as the first bellwether case in multidistrict litigation that was centralized in Georgia federal court in February 2012.

Bellwether cases like Robyn’s allow attorneys on both sides to gauge how juries will react to testimony and evidence presented at trial. While it is impossible to predict how other cases in the MDL will fair, a strong verdict in favor of the plaintiff may be a sign of things to come in future trials.

Hundreds of plaintiffs whose hip implant lawsuits are consolidated in the multidistrict litigation (MDL) are pending before U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey, Jr. in the Northern District of Georgia. Each hip implant lawsuit has similar claims to Robyn’s.

Some hip implant complications faced by plaintiffs include early device failure, loosening, metal poisoning and metallosis, and severe pain.

Individuals who have allegedly suffered serious and debilitating complications due to the Wright Conserve hip replacement may be eligible to file a hip implant lawsuit for their injury-related damages.