An Illinois woman claims that Stryker Corporation failed to adequately warn consumers about the risks and side effects associated with their Rejuvenate hip implant device.

Plaintiff Glenda E. has joined the Stryker multidistrict litigation by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against Stryker Corp. and its subsidiary Howmedica Osteonics. Glenda claims she sustained adverse and systemic injuries, which caused her permanent disability, as a direct result of Stryker’s negligent manufacturing of the Rejuvenate Hip Implant.

Glenda underwent  total hip replacement surgery on her left hip in May 2011, at which time she received the Stryker Rejuvenate Hip Implant device. The Stryker hip lawsuit claims that sometime after she was implanted with the Rejuvenate hip, the plaintiff suffered pain, inflammation, and numbness.

Upon further medical examination, she was later diagnosed with a toxic effect from chromium. Glenda alleges Stryker knew about the Rejuvenate Hip Implant complications, but continued to aggressively manufacture and market the device without adequate warnings, testing, or approval.

Stryker Hip Implant Complications

For years, medical researchers have questioned the safety of metal-on-metal hip devices because of the tendency of the implant’s metal components to rub against one another, depositing minute shards of metal into a patient’s tissues, bones, and/or bloodstream. Recent recalls of hip implants form various manufactures have confirmed this concern.

Although the Stryker Rejuvenate is not a metal-on-metal hip device, it has metal-on-metal components, which are believed to be responsible for the development of metallosis in some Stryker patients. However, because the Stryker necks are made of chromium and cobalt, and the stems are coated with titanium, they do have a metal-on-metal junction, making these products capable of causing the same complications as other defective metal hip implants.

In April 2012, Stryker issued an “Urgent Safety Alert” to surgeons and hospital risk managers regarding two of their hip replacement systems. The alert listed the potential hazards in these devices, including: “Excessive metal debris and/or ion generation,” caused by “fretting and/or corrosion at or about the modular neck junction,” which “may lead to increased metal ion generation in the surrounding joint space.”

And then in July 2012, Stryker voluntarily recalled its Rejuvenate modular-neck stems from the market due to reports of fretting and corrosion. The Stryker hip recall came after Stryker received post-market data that revealed the metal modular necks and stems of these two devices were prone to corrosion and fretting that may release excessive metal debris into body, damaging surrounding bone and tissue.

According to some medical and legal reports, the FDA received two adverse events linked to the recalled Stryker hip devices, including one in which the hip implant was removed.

Stryker Rejuvenate Hip Implant Lawsuits

Since the Stryker Orthopedics Rejuvenate Modular Hip System Recall in July 2012, an increasing number of Stryker hip replacement lawsuits continue to be filed nationwide. The Stryker hip claimants allege similar hip implant complications, including: metallosis, osteolysis (dissolution of bone), and necrosis in tissue surrounding the implant.

The Stryker Rejuvenate Hip Implant Lawsuit is Case No. 0:13-cv-02596-DWF-FLN, in the US District Court Central District of Illinois Peoria Division.