Court Releases Preservation Protocol For BHR Hip Implants

Court Releases Preservation Protocol For BHR Hip Implants

Introduction

In a case management order submitted recently, U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake, presiding over the Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) systems complications, presented the protocols for preserving explanted hip implants. In the order, Judge Blake has approved the steps that must be filed for the explanted implants describing how the devices are to be identified, preserved and handled.

Both the parties or non-party medical practitioners and hospitals are required to make "good faith efforts" to preserve any explanted system. They are supposed to handle the preservation of any blood, fluid, tissue or serum samples carefully.  Any destructive or non-destructive analysis or testing is completely prohibited without a written consent of all parties or an order by the court.

There are about 400 product liability lawsuits filed against the manufacturer of BHR systems over allegations that they failed to warn that the metal-on-metal hip implant is defectively designed and is prone to wear and tear, often requiring removal of the device. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated hip implants lawsuits in the District of Maryland as part of a federal MDL for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

In a related hip implant litigation, lawsuits continue to be filed involving complications over Stryker Hip Replacement system centralized before U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani under MDL No. 2768 – in Re: Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head Products Liability Litigation.