Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II

The Stryker Rejuvenate and Stryker hip replacement products were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and sales began in 2008 and 2009. These approvals occurred even as Stryker was conducting a voluntary recall of a different hip replacement device: the Trident System.

The Stryker ABG II and Stryker Rejuvenate contain metal components, although the products are not traditional metal-on-metal systems. The Stryker products include a modular femoral neck, with four parts including a femoral stem, metal neck, ball and cup instead of the two components on traditional hip implant devices. The Rejuvenate and ABG II were marketed to younger patients promising added flexibility and mobility compared with other hip replacement or resurfacing products. Longevity of the implant was another selling point.

Unfortunately, the hip replacement products began failing almost immediately, and patients began filing adverse reports. In April of 2012, an Urgent Safety Alert was issued, alerting patients of the risk of corrosion at the junction of the modular neck stem and the modular neck. By July of 2012, the ABG II and the Rejuvenate were both recalled. This occurred after an expert panel reviewed reports and found at least 17,000 adverse reactions among 500,000 metal-on-metal hip implants. Patients with a Stryker Rejuvenate or ABG II should consider pursuing legal action. Many cases are pending already, and plaintiffs can become part of a mass tort or pursue an independent claim. A defective hip implant lawyer at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers can help.

Stryker has established a reimbursement program to provide coverage for out-of-pocket expenses for diagnosing problems with the ABG II and Rejuvenate. The program will pay 100 percent of the costs of diagnostic testing and necessary revision surgery if the patient has no insurance. If the plaintiff has health insurance coverage, only expenses not covered by the health insurer are paid.

The complications associated with the Stryker Rejuvenate and the ABG II include metallosis, the formation of pseudo-tumors, swelling, necrosis, osteolysis and severe and/or chronic pain. Simply paying for testing may not be enough. The company should be held responsible for pain and discomfort as well as other losses.

Affected patients have filed claims to obtain compensation. In January of 2013, a patient who had received a Stryker Orthopedics Rejuvenate Modular Hip System in July of 2011 became the lead plaintiff in a case seeking class action status in the Southern District of Florida. During the same month, cases pending in New Jersey related to the Rejuvenate Hip System were consolidated in a multi-county litigation in the New Jersey Supreme Court. At least 145 lawsuits arising from Stryker hip products have already been filed in the multi-county litigation.

A multidistrict litigation is also ongoing in a U.S. District Court in the District of Minnesota. There were 616 cases pending as of a March 13, 2014 court document.

Multi-county or multi-district litigation streamlines the process of pursuing an injury claim. While plaintiffs retain their own cases in an MDL unlike a class action, one judge presides over all similar claims and issues rulings on pretrial motions that are relevant and applicable to all other relevant cases. Bellwether cases-- test cases to provide guidance during settlement talks arising from Rejuvenate or ABG II complications-- are also scheduled to move forward in summer of 2015. Stryker has already set aside more than $133 million to defend the claims or potentially settle.

Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers can provide assistance to those harmed by a defective hip implant.