Plaintiffs Phil and Kathy Hall have joined thousands of other hip replacement patients who are suing Stryker Corp. over alleged complications caused by the company’s Stryker ABG hip system.

Mr. Hall underwent hip replacement surgery in December of 2010 at the University of Utah Medical center in Salt Lake City, Utah, to replace a failing hip joint. Per the hip implant lawsuit, he started experiencing symptoms of hip replacement failure in 2013, including pain and discomfort that was allegedly so severe that he couldn’t sleep.

At this point, his physicians informed him of a 2012 recall of the Stryker ABG, the same model he had been implanted with. This was the first he had heard of the Stryker hip recall, according to the lawsuit.

The Stryker hip lawsuit alleges that surgeons found evidence of corrosion and performed hip revision surgery in July 2013. Hall describes in the lawsuit the pain he experienced prior to revision surgery as being a 10 on a a scale of 1 to 10. During his ongoing recovery, he has described his pain as a 6 to 7 on the same scale. Hall and his wife are suing Stryker for damages related to his pain and suffering, medical expenses, and more. It was announced recently that Stryker has begun settlement negotiations with some plaintiffs.

Stryker Hip Recall Highlights Serious Problems

The Stryker AGB was created as a metal-on-metal hip implant, one of several brands and models of that use all metal components. In older artificial hip joints, the issues of friction are handled in different ways. In some artificial hip joints, the original cartilage of either the hip socket or hip neck is retained, providing a naturally-occurring, low-friction surface. But in many cases, both surfaces of the joint are too damaged and both the leg-end and the hip-end of the joint must be replaced. In these cases, both surfaces of the hip have to be replaced.

In older hip replacement designs, ceramic or polymers are used, but in the 2000s, various companies experimented with metal-on-metal hip joints.

Recently metal-on-metal hip joints in general, and Stryker hip joints in particular, have been dogged with issues. Studies have shown that these all-metal hip joints are prone to several issues, including mechanical friction wears away at the interfacing surfacing. This allegedly causes problems with the integrity of the artificial joints, and issues with metal ions entering the blood stream.

In particular, the Stryker ABG has allegedly suffered from these very issues. In April 2012, Stryker issued an Urgent Safety Field Notice to surgeons and hospitals. The notice stated that Stryker had received reports of metal contamination and failures at the neck and stem due to corrosion. This was a prelude to a full voluntary recall of the implant in July of that year.

The Halls allege they were never warned that metal-on-metal hip implants like the Stryker ABG were prone to failures, and were never notified of the 2012 Stryker hip recall. They want Stryker to pay up for the damages their hip implant allegedly caused Mr. Hall to suffer — and the pain he continues to suffer.

Help for Hip Replacement Injury Victims

If you or a loved received a metal on metal hip implant after January 1, 2009, and went to experience hip replacement complications such as dislocated hip, metal poisoning, cancer, tissue death, pain or other injury, there’s still time to take legal action against the device manufacturer. These companies have already paid out millions of dollars to victims. Don’t delay – see if you qualify to pursue compensation to cover your medical bills, pain and suffering and other damages at the Metal on Metal Hip Replacement Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.