Stryker recalls more of its metal-on-metal hip replacement devices

Our Houston hip implant injury attorneys understand that you may have been following the ongoing saga of the metal-on-metal hip replacement medical devices. More and more of the defective devices are being recalled from the U.S. marketplace and around the world due to high failure rates and the incidence of kidney and bladder disease linked to metallosis from the implants.

Metallosis is the name that has been given to disease resulting from the buildup of metal debris in the bloodstream, tissues, and organs caused by minute metal shavings flaking from the devices as the metal parts grind together. Our Houston hip implant injury attorneys point out that some British researchers linked the presence of the metal debris from these metal-on-metal hip replacement implants to an increased incidence of kidney and bladder cancer.

DePuy already recalled over 90,000 of its ASR metal-on-metal hip implants. And the first injury lawsuits based around defective performance of the ASR products have begun wending their way through the courtroom.

Zimmer, another company name commonly linked to the metal-on-metal hip replacement medical device, stopped marketing its Durom Cup product for a time after allegations of more than 3,000 injury cases resulting from the implant. But Zimmer did not issue a recall. Our Houston hip implant injury attorneys note that Zimmer blames poor product performance on the orthopedic surgeons that implanted them.

Stryker’s July recall covers the Rejuvenate and ABG II modular-neck stems used in hip replacement devices. Unlike the DePuy and Zimmer products, which involve metal ball-and-socket joints, the Stryker medical device involves use of an adjustable metal-on-metal neck and stem that can be used in conjunction with a ceramic hip implant or a metal one.

But when the neck and stem components grind together, they experience the same wear and metal flaking as the DePuy and Zimmer joints. Stryker attributes its voluntary recall of the Rejuvenate and ABG II products to the risk of corrosion and metal fretting. But taking a cue perhaps from Zimmer, the company lays the blame for any problems on surgeons and even on the patients themselves.

Stryker blames surgeons for using incorrect surgical techniques. The company blames patients for not following rehabilitation procedures after surgery and for their own pre-existing conditions like diabetes and infection that could contribute to corrosion of the implants.

Our Houston hip implant injury attorneys suggest that hip replacement implants are probably not going to be used on people in perfect health and condition. Indeed many patients might have diabetes and infections perhaps related to weight gains that led to the additional wear on their original hip joints. Perhaps the medical device companies could keep that in mind and design a more suitable implant.

According to the statements of the medical device industry, hip replacement implants should have a useful life of 15 years in a patient. Yet many of the metal-on-metal hip replacement medical devices have failed in as little as 3 years, requiring patients to undergo additional surgeries and therapies. Additional surgeries always present some risk to those already suffering from a debilitated physical condition.

Trying to place the blame for failed medical device products on the surgeons that implant them and on the patients who suffer them just adds insult to injury. Sometimes quite grievous injury at that.

Let our skilled and knowledgeable Houston hip implant injury attorneys help you if you’ve had to suffer a failed hip replacement or metallosis resulting from a metal-on-metal implant. Our successful track record for our clients over the past 14 years speaks for itself. Take a look at our case results and client testimonials. Then contact us for your free and confidential legal consultation. We don’t charge attorney’s fees unless you win your claim. And our experience could lead you to a full financial recovery for the needless harm you’ve suffered.