Boston Stryker Hip Replacement Lawyer

People suffering from hip problems face limited mobility, daily joint pain, and drastic lifestyle changes associated with decreased ability to run and jump. The hip is a major joint in the body, but it unfortunately tends to deteriorate as time passes due to cartilage breakdowns and tendon overuse. Hip pain relief through medication is often short-lived and doesn’t address any long-term solutions to immobility and hip joint deterioration.

The solution for many people with hip problems has been to undergo complete hip replacement surgeries, where the human hip is replaced with a synthetic version. These surgeries generally result in increased mobility and lessened pain for the patient, improving quality of life and elongating the years the patient has of pain-free movement. However, recent certain hip replacement systems have led to disastrous consequences, including patient immobility and the need for multiple revision surgeries.

One of the offending hip replacement systems has been the Stryker artificial hip implant system. Stryker medical device manufacturers came up with two forms of hip replacements: the Rejuvenate Modular and the ABG II Modular-Neck Hip Stem systems. They were both designed to relieve patients of hip pain and immobility using methods other than the metal-on-metal design.

However, Stryker was unable to completely eliminate metal from their designs and had to use cobalt, chromium, and titanium in small parts of their hip systems. These metals were supposed to resist corrosion, but the result was unsuccessful due to constant rubbing of the metals against each other. When the metals in the Stryker hips grated against one another, toxic metal ions and tiny particles of debris were released into the human body – causing serious injury, pain, and suffering, as well as costly medical procedures.

Stryker Hip Adverse Effects and Injuries

Among the slew of complaints against the Stryker hip systems, most people suffered from joint pain, inflammation, loss of mobility, and physical illness. The most severe health risk associated with the Stryker hip is metallosis – the poisoning of the blood and body tissues due to metal ions and fragments floating through the human system.

Even though Stryker Inc. tried to avoid issues concerning metal hip systems by making the majority of their product out of other synthetic materials, the metal they had to include was enough to result in thousands of injured patients.

Besides metallosis, patients experienced:

• Necrosis (tissue and bone death due to metallosis)
• Osteolysis (dissolution of bone tissue)
• Pseudotumors around the joint due to inflammation
• Bone fractures
• Body-wide pain and inflammation due to infection and poisoning

After experiencing one or more of these side effects, patients realized the Stryker hip was dangerous, and both Stryker hip systems were voluntarily recalled shortly after. But the people who had already received the Stryker implants were stuck bearing the hazardous effects of the metal corrosion until they could receive removal and revision surgeries.

Stryker Hip Systems Lawsuits

Nearly every patient who received one of the two Stryker hip systems has come forward with their complaints, needing multiple surgeries or medications to relieve symptoms or illnesses. In some of the more severe cases patients experienced heart, nervous system, and thyroid complications due to damages from the corroding metals.

Settlement terms for Stryker Inc. have not yet been fully resolved but are expected to exceed $2 billion in retribution costs once completed. Patients are still coming forward, four years after the 2012 product recall, to have their pain, suffering, and medical costs evaluated by a lawyer.

The attorneys at Sweeney Merrigan Law have a thorough understanding of human rights and laws regarding healthcare cases. We will handle your specific case by having a preliminary meeting to hear your story and offering a free consultation to discuss your legal rights and options, call (617)-391-9001.