A woman has filed hip implant lawsuit against Howmedica Osteonics and Stryker Orthopaedics over her Stryker Accolade hip failure.

Plaintiff Ardis P. underwent hip implant surgery with The Accolade TMZF hip stem and LFIT Anatomic V40 femoral head on March 8, 2007 but later suffered Stryker Accolade hip failure.

According to the complaint, she “has suffered and continues to suffer both injuries and damages, including but not limited to: past, present and future physical and mental pain and suffering; and past, present and future medical, hospital, rehabilitative and pharmaceutical expenses, and other related damages.”

Stryker Accolade Hip Failure Linked to Alleged Design Problems

The Accolade TMZF stem is a single-piece hip replacement part that is designed to be implanted into a patient’s femur. This stem, made of a proprietary titanium alloy, can be used with a variety of ball and socket combinations.

The stem’s titanium alloy made of titanium, molybdenum, zinc and iron was promoted as superior to other titanium alloys.

Defendants claimed it was “both stronger and less rigid than other titanium alloys. They also claim that the particular titanium alloy has been tested and proven by Defendants to resist the effects of corrosion and fretting.”

Stryker’s LFIT Anatomic V40 femoral head, made of a chromium and cobalt alloy, is one of the different femoral heads that can be used with the TMZF stem.

The defendants claimed that lab testing proved the materials of the stem and head were compatible “without concern for fretting and corrosion.”

Despite their claims, scientists have reported concerns that the accelerated fretting and corrosion occurs when different metals are combined. When marketing and selling their hip systems, Stryker tried to alleviate these worries because of the proprietary materials they used.

Still, Stryker recalled its Rejuvenate and ABG II modular hip implant systems in 2012. Those systems used the same TMZF titanium metal in the femoral stem, and the modular necks of both systems were made of chromium and cobalt.

Their recalls were due to “excessive device failure due to fretting and corrosion at the taper junction where these dissimilar metals were joined.”

The device failure, symptoms and diagnostic results were nearly identical to those suffered by Ardis with her Stryker Accolade hip failure.

Soon after her implant surgery, Ardis began to feel pain and discomfort. Initial blood tests revealed elevated levels of serum cobalt, chromium and titanium.

The Stryker Accolade hip failure resulted in Ardis needing a surgical removal of the device, which, according to court documents, “had failed causing gross deformation of the Accolade TMZF Stem together with severe and permanent tissue and muscle damage.”

As a result, Ardis has filed suit alleging negligence and breach of express warranty, and raising strict liability counts including failure to warn, design defect and manufacturing defect. Her husband joined the suit on the count of loss of consortium.

The Stryker Accolade Hip Failure Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-00079 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.