The Stryker femoral head recall has instigated so many hip replacement lawsuits that judges are considering centralizing the cases.

A panel of federal judges is considering consolidation of Stryker femoral head recall cases while a similar request has been filed with the New Jersey Supreme Court in order to coordinate pretrial proceedings in front of one state court judge. Stryker’s U.S. headquarters are in New Jersey.

At issue is the Stryker LFit v40 femoral head implant, which has been used in conjunction with a variety of Stryker hip replacement products.

“The recall of this component will implicate many hip implants. Both prior to the recall and in response to the growing problems associated with this Stryker femoral head, at least eighty-five cases alleging personal injury as a result of defective hip implants have been filed in New Jersey state courts, and we anticipate that more cases will be filed in New Jersey in the coming weeks to months to years,” according to a letter sent on behalf of 25 plaintiffs.

“Many of the filed cases involve patients who have required revision surgery to remove and replace the head or stem, a very painful and invasive surgery,” it said.

Because a similar request was filed last month in the federal court system, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Legislation will hear arguments on March 30^th to determine whether to transfer Stryker femoral head recall cases from district courts across the nation.

Such a move would reduce duplicative discovery, avoid differences in pretrial orders and would be more convenient to all parties and the judicial system.

Centralized proceedings regarding 2012’s Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II recalls allowed thousands of those Stryker femoral head recall lawsuits to be combined.

In that case, Stryker agreed to pay more than $1 billion in settlements when patients experienced revision surgery after those hip implant parts failed.

Stryker Femoral Head Recall Based on Several Factors

This new Stryker femoral head recall has resulted in a large number of lawsuits nationwide. Patients allege the design and manufacturing of the Stryker femoral head were defective.

The joint where the metal stem and the V40 femoral head meet can cause corrosion, releasing metal debris into the body.

While metal poisoning is a debilitating side effect, these Stryker hip implant defects go even further in the LFIT V40 model.

The juncture where the head and neck pieces of the mechanism meet can corrode to the point of causing catastrophic disassociation.

There are indications that the stem is too small to properly secure the head, leading to the Stryker femoral head recall.

The stems are made with rough surfaces designed to encourage the patient’s bone to grow into the stem to stabilize the mechanism. The stem is then a permanent part of the femur bone. As a result, the femur most often requires being fractured in order to remove the defective parts.

When the stem has been in place long enough to have bone grown deeply into it, the operation becomes complicated and many surgeons refuse to attempt removal.

Sometimes, the femur has to be cut in half in order to remove the stem. Wires and cables are used to repair the femur and prepare it for a replacement stem.

If you have received a hip implant that has parts included in the Stryker femoral head recall, you should discuss your options with a lawyer.