A Zimmer hip implant lawsuit alleges the prosthetic contains a defective component that leads to injury and revision surgery.

According to the lawsuit, Florida plaintiff Michael M. was implanted with a Durom Cup Zimmer hip implant in June 2008.

By May 2014, however, the plaintiff had begun suffering an increasing amount of pain in his right groin and buttock, as well as some popping of his hip.

An MRI showed collected fluids surrounding the Zimmer hip implant, and further testing showed elevated levels of cobalt and chromium metals in his blood.

These complications eventually led Michael to undergo to a right revision surgery in September 2015.

Revision surgery is a painful and expensive process, and the plaintiff recovered slowly. Even after revision surgery, the lawsuit claims, Michael M. continues to suffer from severe weakness of the right hip, as well as chronic pain from his hip popping and slipping regularly.

The Zimmer hip implant lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including failure to warn, design defect, manufacturing defect, negligence, fraud, and punitive damages, among others.

Zimmer Hip Implant Background

Zimmer was founded in 1927, and is currently one of the main hip implant manufacturers in the United States. Indeed, in 2008, Zimmer accounted for around seventy percent of the hip implant market, a $2.5 billion market.

The Durom Cup is the Zimmer hip implant component implicated in the lawsuit filed by Michael M. The Durom Cup was designed to adhere to a patient’s hip bone, and is sprayed with a substance intended to help the device be accepted by the patient’s body.

Although the device is intended to allow the bone to grow into the shell of the cup, thereby holding the device in place, the lawsuit alleges that the Durom Cup actually resists this necessary bone growth.

This resistance causes the device to come loose, preventing the device from functioning and even causing serious damage to the pelvic bone. As a result, the device can cause extreme pain and leads to necessary revision surgery, as in the case of this plaintiff.

Any side effects of this Zimmer hip implant can have far-reaching consequences, since over 12,000 patients have been implanted with the device since its introduction to the U.S. market back in 2006.

The lawsuit alleges that Zimmer presented the Durom Cup as a safe and effective hip implant product, but that despite this claim, the Zimmer hip implant product is “prone to an unprecedented failure rate for hip replacement implant components.”

Zimmer Hip Implant Lawsuits

If you or someone you love was implanted with a Zimmer hip implant and have suffered from these or other side effects, you may be able to file a class action lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit can result in financial compensation that can help with medical expenses and other financial losses felt as a result of these injuries.

The Zimmer Hip Implant Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-00035-SDW-SCM, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.