A recent lawsuit claims that Biomet should have implemented a metal on metal hip recall due to defects with the Magnum hip.

The Magnum M2a metal on metal hip replacement system is a cobalt-chromium hip replacement composed of a acetabular cup, femoral health, and taper sleeve. Because all of the components are made of metal, they allegedly wear on each other and release cobalt and chromium debris into the surrounding tissue.

The release of metallic debris allegedly causes a variety of side effects including pain, implant looseness, dislocation, metal poisoning, pseudotumors, tissue death, bone damage, muscle wasting, and other problems.

“The Hip System suffers from defects that cause excessive amounts of cobalt and chromium to corrode and wear from the surfaces of the acetabular cup, the femoral head, and the taper sleeve, which in turn causes the hip implant to fail and the surrounding tissue and bone to die,” the Biomet lawsuit claims.

Plaintiff Dennis R. was reportedly implanted with the Magnum M2a in March 2010. By this time, other patients with this implant had reported early failure due to complications. In fact, the failure rate of the implant after 10 years was allegedly a shocking 20 percent.

However, there was no recall for the device – meaning that patients like Dennis were still being implanted with the Magnum M2a.

Dennis says that despite these documented failures, he and his surgeon were reportedly not told that the implant was unsafe. Instead, Biomet allegedly misrepresented their device as “safe and effective” while concealing defects with the implant.

“As a result of these defects, Plaintiff’s Hip System had an unreasonably high risk of failing in his body, causing severe loosening of the device and/or toxic levels of cobalt and chromium, tissue and bone destruction, and the need for Plaintiff to undergo a complicated and risky surgery to remove and replace the defective implant,” the Biomet lawsuit alleges.

Due to complications with the Magnum M2a implant, Dennis allegedly required a costly and painful revision surgery in October 2017. He claims that this will make him more likely to require revision surgery in the future, and that studies show that 14.4 percent of patients who undergo revision surgery will suffer from a dislocation.

In patients who have not had a revision surgery, dislocations allegedly occur in 3.9 percent of people.

In 2014, Biomet reached a $56 million settlement with plaintiffs that made claims regarding the Magnum M2a. The settlement resolved claims in a multidistrict litigation, but plaintiffs like Dennis continue to file claims against the company.

The Biomet lawsuit claims that the company should have started a metal on metal hip recall due to complications experienced by a significant portion of consumers. By failing to initiate a metal on metal hip recall for the Magnum device, Biomet allegedly exposed Dennis and countless other consumers to the risk of complications, revision surgery, and permanent injury.

Dennis accuses Biomet of strict product liability, negligence, breach of implied warranty, breach of express warranty, and violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Dennis seeks compensatory damages for lost wages, medical expenses, and more, general damages for pain and suffering, punitive damages, exemplary damages, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

The Biomet Magnum Lawsuit is Case No. 3:19-cv-00402-RV-EMT in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.