A man has filed a lawsuit alleging his Stryker hip replacement failed, causing him pain and metal poisoning.

Mark A. said he received the Stryker Rejuvenate modular hip stem in his left hip in March 2011.

He has not yet had surgery to remove the left hip implant, but alleges that he has suffered injuries and economic loss due to the defective component.

Mark’s lawsuit will be consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) along with others who claim they suffered complications from the Stryker hip replacement device.

Stryker received FDA approval for the Rejuvenate System in June 2008. Stryker issued a voluntary global recall of both the Rejuvenate and ABG II hip replacement systems in July 2012.

According to the lawsuit, the Rejuvenate system consists of two basic components, a chrome and cobalt neck and a titanium stem.

This Stryker hip replacement system was created in a way that the neck and stem could be used interchangeably with a variety of different Stryker bearing surface components, including the ball or head and an acetabular cup or socket.

Stryker promoted the Rejuvenate as a system that offered better stability and flexibility because with many available combinations of length and offset, a surgeon could supposedly personalize the Stryker hip replacement system to the patient’s unique needs and anatomy.

Stryker Hip Replacement Problems

The Rejuvenate system combined a TMZF (titanium alloy) stem with a cobalt and chromium neck. Stryker allegedly claimed its laboratory tests proved the materials were compatible with no possibility of fretting or corrosion.

In promotional materials, the titanium alloy was marketed as stronger, but less rigid than similar titanium alloys.

“Despite defendants’ claims, this combination of materials has been reported to cause fretting, galvanization, and corrosion,” says the MDL. “Since the 1980s, medical and scientific literature has reported corrosion to be a problem when Ti [titanium] and CoCr [cobalt chromium] have been used at modular junctions in medical implants.”

The Stryker MDL alleges the following:

• The Rejuvenate was poorly designed because the dissimilar metals corrode, fret and cause metal poisoning in patients
• The taper neck junction between the stem and neck make micro motion unavoidable and they do not “’fit’ the way they were intended.”
• The metal fretting causes the death of nearby tissue and bone, severe pain and premature failure of the Rejuvenate hip system.

Stryker is accused of knowing the problems of matching the TMZF titanium alloy with the chrome cobalt components, but of suppressing or ignoring the evidence in a rush to market the Rejuvenate system.

As a result of patients not receiving any warning of the risks of the Stryker hip replacement system, they allegedly suffered severe, permanent and debilitating injuries that led to premature device failure.

The Stryker MDL alleges the company failed to report many of the adverse events to the FDA, misleadingly promoted the Rejuvenate hip system and failed to conduct timely investigations and analyses of reported adverse events.

The Stryker Hip Replacement Lawsuit is Case No. 0:18-cv-03445-DWF-BRT and is part of the Stryker Hip MDL, In re: Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 13-2441, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.