A California jury awarded $7.68 million to a man who filed a metal hip implant lawsuit after needing two revision surgeries within 15 months.

A different jury had previously awarded plaintiff Gary Kline $9.2 million, but a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge overturned the decision and ordered a retrial on the damages, according to medtechdive.com.

The $7.68 million award includes $3.6 million in non-economic losses as well as future losses.

Metal Hip Implant Lawsuit Allegations

Zimmer has faced product liability lawsuits from patients who have suffered with failed metal-on-metal implants throughout the world. At this point, the company has paid more than $400 million in such cases, and anticipates being required to pay another $130 million for metal hip implant problems.

Metal-on-metal hip implant systems became popular because surgeons originally believed all-metal systems would provide better wear and longer life compared to plastic or ceramic parts.

Problems began appearing when metal components scraped against one another, causing metal shavings to wear away from the parts. These metal shavings became embedded in nearby tissue where the body could react by sending fluid to the area in an effort to flush away the invading metal particles. Once the fluid accumulated to the point of becoming noticeable, it would appear as a tumor-like formation, known as a pseudotumor.

In many cases, the metal particles release metal ions into the blood stream, resulting in metal poisoning. The body attempts to flush the metal ions out by excreting the ions out through the kidneys and urine. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an elevated level of metal ions may result in one or several severe side effects, such as:

• General hypersensitivity reaction, such as a skin rash or hives
• Cardiomyopathy, which is heart disease
• Hearing or visual impairments, among other neurological changes
• Psychological reactions, including onset of depression or cognitive impairment
• Impaired kidney/renal function
• Thyroid problems, such as neck pain, fatigue, weight gain or feeling cold

Metal-on-metal implants can even adversely impact the bone and tissue the implant was intended to assist. Metal ions can cause affected tissue and bone to die. When a revision surgery is conducted, the dead tissue and bone must be removed. This leaves less original human material for the surgeon to work with as the new implant needs real bone to adhere to in order to perform properly.

In addition, metal poisoning can interfere with the strength of the bone material that remains, causing an increased risk of fracture.

Patients who have suffered premature failure of metal implants and who have endured serious, painful, debilitation side effects may be eligible to file a metal hip implant lawsuit.

According to the Arthritis Foundation, the number of knee and hip replacement surgeries doubled from the year 2000 to 2008, and the number of revision surgeries increased as well because of failed or worn implants. The number of hip replacements is expected to increase by 171 percent by the year 2030 to about 635,000. By 2060, the projected number of hip replacements will reach 1.23 million, which indicates an increase of 330 percent. The numbers were presented at the 2018 meeting of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons in New Orleans by Matthew Sloan, MD of the University of Pennsylvania.