A Maryland Judge Dismissed 12 Time-barred BHR Lawsuits

A Maryland Judge Dismissed 12 Time-barred BHR Lawsuits

Introduction

In an order issued on November 19, Judge Catherine Blake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland tossed 12 complaints filed over defects of Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Resurfacing system, stating the statute of limitation expired on them. However, the Maryland  Judge allowed remaining cases to undergo the discovery process.

Earlier in June this year, the company sought to dismiss 55 BHR claims as time-barred among the 500 other cases consolidated in the federal MDL. In the lawsuits filed against Smith & Nephew, plaintiffs stated the friction between metal components of the hip system piles up metal debris in the joint and also the bloodstream. These complications often lead to patients resorting to device replacement. About 500 cases are pending in the federal MDL (MDL No.2775; In re: Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation) in the District of Maryland.

Wright Medical Technology, Inc., named as the defendant in a hip implant lawsuit filed by a plaintiff, was granted a partial motion to dismiss a part of the plaintiff's complaint but denied the motion to strike her request for punitive damages and prejudgment interest. The order was released on November 5 and signed by U. S. District Judge Ted Stewart for the District of Utah.

In a response submitted on September 28, 2018, Wright Medical Technology Inc. denied allegations that their Profemur Z hip implant was defectively designed and the company knowingly concealed the health risks associated with the device.

The response filed in the District of Connecticut cited several affirmative defenses and stated that the claims mentioned in the lawsuit are preempted by federal law and also, barred by the learned intermediary doctrine. The case involved claims made by a plaintiff who underwent total hip replacement surgery on March 30, 2005, during which he was implanted with Wright's Profemur device. Wright hip implant multidistrict litigation (MDL 2329) which was created in February 2012, was shut down by U.S. District Judge William Duffey on June 22.

About 28,000 lawsuits have been filed against various hip implant makers accusing defendants Zimmer, Stryker, Biomet, Wright, and Smith & Nephew of hiding the health hazards of the defective hip implants.

Stryker Orthopaedics is known for the development and manufacture of specialty surgical products and other medical supplies for health care around the world. The company has manufactured scores of medical devices and joint replacement products, most of which have been successful; however, some of the hip replacement devices have caused serious adverse events, injuring hundreds of patients.

The Stryker Rejuvenate Modular-Neck Stem and the ABG Modular-Neck Stem hip replacement devices were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2008 and 2009. These devices are not typical "metal-on-metal" (MoM) as the necks are built of Cobalt and Chromium and the neck stems are layered with Titanium.

Though the intention was to make it corrosion resistant, the two metals rubbed on each other at the connection and released toxic metal ions and debris. Stryker permanently recalled the Rejuvenate Modular and ABG II Modular-Neck Hip Stems in 2012 and stopped all global sales and production of these components. Another hip stem model, the Accolade TMZF, also caused problems and was recalled in 2009, 2011, and 2013.

Most patients with Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II implants have undergone additional surgery or revision surgeries to remove and replace the implant to repair or reconstruct injured joints, bones, and tissues in addition to the replacement surgery.

Michigan-based Stryker Corporation began as the Orthopedic Frame Company in the 1940s. Over the years the company expanded and now markets 57,000 products worldwide. Its net sales reached $9.9 billion in 2015, and 13 percent of those sales came from hip replacement products, according to the company’s annual report.

In another 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.