The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, or JPML, has amalgamated all federal Stryker LFIT V40 hip lawsuits against Howmedica Osteonics Corp. and its subsidiary Stryker Orthopedics.

The consolidation of the Stryker LFIT defects lawsuits will be brought forth as part of a new MDL, or multidistrict litigation, before a single judge, as part of coordinated pretrial proceedings.

Howmedica and its subsidiary Stryker Orthopedics have faced several hip implant lawsuits that accuse the companies of harm resulting from Stryker LFIT defects and problems linked to several other types of Stryker hip systems.

The Stryker LFIT V40 is a metal femoral head used as part of a prosthetic hip implant system. It is inserted into the hip femoral joint in total hip replacements. Its purpose has been to increase a patient’s stability and range of motion.

The femoral head is then attached to any of several Stryker metal hip stems such as the Citation models, Meridian, Accolade 2, and Accolade TMZF.

The accolade TMZF has been designed to be used with any number of bearing surface components and is made up of titanium, molybdenum, zinc and iron. The femoral head is comprised of cobalt and chromium alloy.

The femoral head that becomes attached to a metal stem during hip implant surgery, however, has been reported to cause discomfort and pain in patients suffering from the alleged Stryker LFIT defects.

Stryker had announced a recall last year after may reports of the corroding, loosening, and dislocating of the Stryker LFIT defects in the femoral joint, or cobalt-chromium femoral head. It has caused a complication known as “taper lock failure,” which is a condition that always requires painful revision surgery.

In the recall announcement, Stryker had disclosed and admitted that several patients were suffering from serious complications including and not limited to adverse tissue reactions, trunnion failure, and breakdown in metal wear.

The trunnion is the metal part of the femoral hip stem in which the LFIT V40 locks into. When the metal on metal interface corrodes, however, trunnion failure may occur. Metal debris from the corrosion can become circulated within the bloodstream causing metal poisoning, or metallosis.

The dissemination of metal can lead to local inflammation within the hip joint and can also lead to pseudotumors.  These adverse effects may require the patient to undergo surgical removal of the medical device.

According to reports, revision surgery can be traumatic and painful, especially for older patients. In revision surgery, the old hip implant is removed and the new stem is inserted. Because of revision surgery, moreover, many patients can be left with a leg that is shorter than the other.

The defendants have also been under fire as the Stryker LFIT defects and early device failure have been found in medical studies and national registries.

In settlements, Stryker has paid more than $1 billion to more than 6,000 patients who had suffered from the dissemination, corrosion, and malfunction of their prosthetic hip devices. The $1 billion paid out provided $300,000 to each hip replacement that had needed revision surgery.