An Arkansas couple has recently filed a hip replacement lawsuit against Biomet, the manufacturer of the M2a Magnum Hip System.

Plaintiffs Gary S. and Susan S. say that Biomet is responsible for the defective hip system that was implanted in Gary and that as a result, he underwent a revision surgery to remove the defective hip system.

M2a Magnum Hip System by Biomet

Biomet, based in Indiana, held 12% of the domestic hip implant market in the U.S. in 2010 and in that year, sales reached $312.9 million. However, many of Biomet’s devices were problematic, namely the M2a Magnum hip implant products.

The M2a Magnum hip systems are based on a metal-on-metal design and are designed for use with more active patients. With a larger head, the M2a Magnum metal on metal hip replacement has the potential for 160 degrees of rotation.

Because of the larger head diameter, the surface area of metal rubbing up against other metal in the hip system is larger as well. This increases surface wear and increases the risk of metal particles being released into the body surrounding the hip implant.

This can cause a variety of complications including metallosis, which is metal toxicity from hip replacement that occurs when metal debris is released into the blood and surrounding tissues from an artificial joint.

Metal toxicity from hip replacement can create many adverse events including tissue discoloration and necrosis, pseudotumors (pockets of fluid), groin pain, swelling and loosening of the artificial joint leading to dislocation or fracture.

From 1999 to 2009 more than 110,000 M2a Magnum devices were implanted. The M2a Magnum system uses cobalt chromium in the inside shell and also the ball. This can lead to excessive metal particles being released which may lead to metallosis complications.

Biomet Hip Replacement Lawsuit

In September of 2008 Plaintiff Gary S. underwent a right total hip arthroplasty surgery in North Little Rock, Arkansas. His orthopedic surgeon implanted a M2a Magnum hip system manufactured by Biomet into Gary’s right hip.

Following his surgery, Gary began experiencing pain and difficulty in and around his implant. He found himself in severe pain and experienced limited mobility.

His doctor suspected that Gary’s pain and limited mobility was due to elevated levels of cobalt/chromium levels in Gary’s blood as a result of the Biomet M2a Magnum hip system.

In May of 2016, eight years later, Gary underwent a revision surgery to remove the defective hip implant. Because of the increased risks of revision surgeries, Gary may experience a greater risk of future complications.

In June 2016 Gary and his wife, Susan filed a hip replacement lawsuit against Biomet.

The hip replacement lawsuit claims that Gary’s revision surgery and injuries are a direct result of Biomet’s failure to disclose pertinent risk information to both himself and his medical professionals.

The plaintiffs in this hip replacement lawsuit claim that Gary’s damages are medical expenses (past and future), physical scarring, disfigurement, lost wages and future earning capacity, permanent harm by metal poisoning, undergoing the additional surgery, impaired physical mobility, loss of consortium and mental anguish and emotional distress.

This hip replacement lawsuit alleges that Biomet’s M2a Magnum devices were defective in both design and manufacture and that Biomet was aware of the defects.

It also claims that Biomet failed to warn interested parties about the serious risks associated with their metal-on-metal implants, as well as accusing Biomet of fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment and breach of implied and explicit warranty.

This Biomet Metal Hip Replacement Lawsuit is Case No. 3:2016-cv-00349 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.