A lawsuit over allegedly faulty Stryker LFIT femoral heads has been filed by a woman who says the part led to her hip implant’s failure.

Plaintiff Beth B. received a left hip implant consisting of the Stryker LFIT femoral head and the Accolade II femoral stem in May 2014. In November 2014, she had to have the femoral head removed.

She says she suffered injuries as a result of both the implantation and the explantation of the new hip.

Her injuries included experiencing high levels of chromium and cobalt in her blood, allegedly due to small particles of the metals shaving off away from the metal parts of the hip implant system.

An Urgent Medical Device Recall Notification was issued by Stryker in August 2016 because patients implanted with certain lots of LFIT V40 femoral heads were experiencing an unusually high failure rate that involved taper lock failure. The femoral head was prone to dislocating from the hip stem.

Lawsuits against Howmedica Osteonics Corp., the maker of Stryker’s hip implant systems, claim that the recall notice warned of potential problems such as femoral head dislocation and possible metal poisoning, but did not inform doctors how to monitor patients.

A blood test can indicate levels of metals in a person’s blood. Evidence of high cobalt and/or chromium levels would indicate metal poisoning (metallosis) and device corrosion.

Stryker LFIT Femoral Heads Linked with Hip Implant Failures

The Stryker LFIT femoral heads consist of a cobalt and chromium alloy material that can leach into nearby tissue and the blood stream.

Stryker saw similar issues with the Rejuvenate and ABG II hip implant systems that resulted in a 2012 recall. The same TMZF titanium alloy was used in all the femoral stems, and the modular necks consisted of chromium and cobalt. Corrosion from the different metals fretting at the taper junction led to those recalls.

The Stryker LFIT femoral heads allegedly were not designed with the strength to maintain their structural integrity when they were implanted with stems made of a different type of metal.

Howmedica also stands accused of not fully testing the Stryker LFIT femoral heads before they went on the market. Plaintiffs like Beth allege the company ran only the bare minimum of required tests and studies before putting the femoral heads on the market. They allege there was no way the health care community or potential patients could have known the long-term consequences of the poorly designed hip implant system.

Patients suffering from hip implant failures due to the Stryker LFIT femoral heads could benefit from speaking with an attorney regarding compensation through legal representation.

The Stryker LFIT Femoral Heads Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-12119 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.