Marcia and Peter Scherone have filed a hip implant defect lawsuit against Zimmer Holdings Inc. They contend that Marcia sustained femur fractures because she had been fitted with a Zimmer hip implant that was defective, As a result, they claim, she had to undergo over six revision surgeries to fix the damage sustained to her leg and hip. The Scherones are suing for negligence, breach of express and implied warranty, loss of consortium, and strict liability.
Marcia, who was implanted with the Zimmer Trilogy hip device in 2005, suffered a fracture while in the shower in 2008 and dislocated her hip. She blames her injuries on the faulty hip implant device, which had to be removed after its plastic liner split in two.
In the last couple of years, Marcia has been forced to use a walker and wheelchair and continues to experience pain from her injuries. She also has not been able to function normally in her professional and daily lives. The plaintiffs want damages for Marcia’s past and ongoing pain and suffering.
In the last few years, hundreds of people have filed Zimmer hip implant lawsuits claiming injuries from defective medical devices. (The Zimmer Durom Cup is another hip implant device frequently blamed for failures and resulting injuries.) Consumers are not the only ones that have expressed concerns.
In September, the Us Food and Drug Administration wrote a warning letter to Zimmer pointing out problems with the manufacturing and testing of the Trilogy Acetabular Systems for artificial hips at the company’s plant in Ponce, Puerto Rico. While the FDA is not limiting production of the device or asking that any products be recalled from the market, the federal agency said that the manufacturer had not put into place a testing mechanism to show that the medical devices satisfied certain design specifications and failed to validate how manufacturing was affecting products with metallic spikes. Zimmer said that it is addressing these concerns by temporarily suspending the release of hip implants with metallic spikes until their validation is complete.
Hip Implant Failure
Any type of hip implant failure likely means that the patient will have to undergo at least one another revision surgery to have the device removed and replaced. The surgery will likely be painful and invasive and require the patient to take the necessary integration time to learn how to use the new device and heal properly. In some cases, numerous surgeries may be needed, especially if the faulty hip implant has caused some type of injury (whether it is a bone injury, infection, illness or complications from hip implant particles breaking up in the body). Medications, rehabilitation, physical therapy, and other resources and services may be needed to help with recovery.
For many elderly patients who have to use a hip implant, a device failure is not merely an inconvenience, it can take a serious toll on one’s health and adversely affect his/her quality of life and ability to be mobile and independent. You want to work with a hip implant defect law firm that understands all of this and can help you account for all of your damages and losses you need to claim for should you decide to pursue a defective medical device lawsuit.
FDA Warning Letter to Zimmer, FDA, September 19, 2012
FDA warns Zimmer over manufacturing of hip devices, Reuters, October 1, 2012
More Blog Posts:
Plaintiffs Sue Stryker Orthopaedic for Hip Implant Failures, Drug Injury Lawyers Blog, September 20, 2012
Johnson & Johnson Settles First Three DePuy Hip Implant Lawsuits for $600,000, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 25, 2012
Zimmer KnexGen and DePuy Knee Implants Linked to Patient Injuries, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 6, 2012