Howmedica Osteonics Corp. will be facing another Stryker LFIT V40 femoral head complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

On Oct. 16, 2017, plaintiff Maria S., a citizen and resident of the state of Arizona, filed a short-form complaint related to Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) No. 2768 alleging Stryker LFIT V40 femoral head products liability. Defendants Howmedica and Stryker are related companies.

The Stryker LFIT V40 femoral head is part of a hip prosthetic unit implanted during a total hip arthroscopy. Patients undergo arthroscopy surgery when the natural hip is degenerated due to trauma, arthritis, or general wear and tear.

The LFIT V40 femoral head is attached to the top of the thigh bone after the diseased, natural femoral head is amputated during arthroscopy.

The means of any femoral head attachment is via a femoral stem, a part that is implanted in the femur. The implantation can be cemented after a canal is created by the doctor in the center of the bone, or it can rely on in-growth of bone tissue to stabilize the stem. Both varieties are available on the market.

The LFIT V40 femoral head then articulates with an acetabular cup affixed to the concave opening in the pelvis. It may or may not have a liner in-between the cup and the head. When liners are used, they are meant to simulate the natural, thick cartilage between the femur and the hip bone.

The Plaintiff’s Story

Maria S. says she underwent a total hip arthroscopy for her left hip on June 30, 2010, according to the short-form complaint. She was implanted with an LFIT V40 femoral head which was affixed to her femur with the addition of a Rejuvenate SPT Monolithic stem. The surgery was done at Tucson Medical Center.

Maria S. had to have the LFIT V40 femoral head explanted less than six years later on Feb. 3, 2016 at the same facility. In her lawsuit narrative, it states that she had no way of knowing that the problems she experienced leading to the explant were related to a product defect until Howmedica initiated a voluntary recall on Aug. 29, 2016. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) followed up this gesture with a formal recall on Nov. 9 of that year. It was around that time that she learned of the defect.

Also, according to her short-form narrative, Maria S. claims that she could not have known about the high levels of chromium or cobalt in her blood until a blood test was performed and elevations attributed to the prosthetic unit in her left hip.

The LFIT V40 femoral head was attributed to a buildup of cobalt and chromium metal debris in the tissues around the joint and in the blood.

Maria S. is alleging Howmedica Corp. of negligence, creating a product with a defective design, making a product with manufacturing defects, failing to warn, breaching of implied warranty of merchantability, and breaching of implied warranties. She is asking for compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages as well as consideration for her attorney’s fees and court costs.

The Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head is Case No. 1:17-cv-12018-IT in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The case is part of MDL 2768, a consolidated products liability litigation for the Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head.