A metal hip lawsuit against Wright Medical Group went to trial before a jury in California federal court. This Wright hip lawsuit is the first of several hundred similar cases filed against the medical device manufacturer concerning their allegedly defective Profemur modular hip replacement products.

This Wright metal hip implant has allegedly been linked to personal injury reports in which the artificial hip implant fractures and breaks just a few years after a patient receives the metal hip implant.

Wright Medical Technology Inc. has designed, manufactured, and sold joint implants like their Profemur hip replacement system since 1950. It is estimated that 60 percent of this Tennessee-based medical manufacturer’s sales are produced by the hip and knee replacement products.

Background on Wright Hip Implant Lawsuit

On May 28, an Los Angeles jury in the California Supreme Court began to hear oral arguments for a metal hip implant lawsuit filed by plaintiff Alan W., alleging his Profemur hip implant broke after just three years after implantation. Most hip implants, including Wright’s Profemur model, are meant to last 15 to 20 years.

Alan’s case is just one of over 1,200 Wright hip implant lawsuits pending in state and federal court across the United States. They all similarly allege that plaintiffs experienced serious problems and hip implant side effects after the modular femoral stem of the Profemur hip replacement broke.

Unlike traditional plastic or ceramic hip replacement systems, which are generally designed to contain on femoral component, Wright’s Profemur hip implant contains two modular stems that allow for adjustable leg length according to patient measurements.

Some side effects that may indicate that a patient’s Wright Profemur hip replacement implant contains a design defect include:

• Sudden and inexplicable hip pain
• Consumer’s inability to walk or stand
• Loosening of the Profemur hip implant
• Hip replacement failure

Wright Hip Implant Litigation

The first Wright hip replacement lawsuit was set to go to trial in April 2013. However, plaintiff Gregory T.’s claims against the hip implant manufacturer were settled before the trial and the details of the hip implant settlement were not disclosed.

The second Wright hip implant lawsuit was also settled before going to court in November 2013. Like the majority of Wright hip replacement lawsuits, these were also part of the hip implant multidistrict litigation (MDL) consolidated in Georgia federal court.

Alan’s Wright hip lawsuit is the latest of these cases in the hip implant litigation, and the first to go to trial before a jury. It is being closely watched by many products liability lawyers.

The outcome of this Wright lawsuit could help the lawyers involved in other hip implant lawsuits gauge how future juries may respond to evidence and testimony presented during litigation in similar cases.

If you believe you were injured after using a Wright hip implant, you should contact an attorney to see if you have legal claims and should pursue a hip implant lawsuit.