A woman from Washington says she had to undergo additional hip replacement surgery due to a defective Stryker LFIT hip implant system.

Plaintiff Mildred M. says that in October 2011, she was surgically implanted with a Rejuvenate Monolithic Hip Stem and LFIT Anatomic V40 femoral head, both made by defendants Howmedica Osteonics and Stryker Corp.

Sometime after that surgery, she says she began experiencing discomfort near the site of the implants. Blood tests revealed she had elevated levels of cobalt, a type of metal used in the manufacture of her Stryker hip implants.

Mildred underwent revision surgery in June 2016 to remove the Stryker implant. The surgeon noted “obvious fretting” in the femoral head. He replaced the Stryker LFIT hip implant with a new system, one that used a polyethylene liner and a ceramic femoral head.

Following the revision surgery, the doctor diagnosed Mildred with “[m]etallosis secondary to left hip arthroplasty with elevated cobalt and chromium levels.”

Metallosis is a condition in which an excess of metal inside a person’s body causes a toxic reaction. Metallosis can cause the death of the tissue surrounding the implant, leading to both medical and mechanical complications. It can also lead to the formation of small, non-cancerous growths known as pseudotumors.

Many cases of metallosis have been reported in patients who receive hip implants that use a metal-on-metal design, like the Stryker implants at issue here.

Plaintiff: Complications Caused by Defective Stryker LFIT Hip Implant

Mildred now claims her complications and subsequent revision surgery were the results of defects in her Stryker hip implant components.

According to Mildred, Stryker issued a recall of some of its LFIT femoral heads last year. The FDA announced this recall in November 2016, citing several reports of taper lock failure in certain lots of LFIT femoral heads.

Trunnion failure, metal wear, adverse tissue reaction, and the need for revision surgery all were reported in association with the defective Stryker LFIT hip implant components, according to Mildred. She alleges she suffered each of these problems when her Stryker hip implant system failed.

Part of the problem with these implants is due to a difference in the metals used to make the stem and the femoral head, according to this defective Stryker LFIT hip implant lawsuit.

The Rejuvenate Monolithic Hip Stem is made from a proprietary titanium-based alloy known as TMZF, and the LFIT V40 femoral head is made of a cobalt and chromium alloy.

The defendants allegedly claim laboratory test results show these two components made of differing metals can be used together without concern for fretting or corrosion. But Mildred argues that assurance is false. Combining these two types of metals has resulted in reports of corrosion, she claims.

In her Stryker hip implant lawsuit, Mildred is raising claims for negligence, failure to warn, design defect, manufacturing defect, and breach of warranty. She is asking the court to award compensatory, actual and punitive damages, court costs, attorneys’ fees, and any other relief the court deems appropriate.

Mildred’s Defective Stryker LFIT Hip Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-00751 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.