A Small Victory: But Justice Would Stop PREVENTABLE Harm

ZIMMER HIP IMPLANT LAWSUIT RESULTS IN $2M AWARD FOR FAULTY HIP REPLACEMENT

By Heba Elsherif   FiDA highlight

April 17, 2017

Two million dollars has been awarded to an Albuquerque man for a faulty Zimmer hip implant.

Plaintiff Brian M., a former University of New Mexico economist, received a metal hip replacement in 2010. Shortly following the surgery, however, Brian suffered from metallosis, the medical condition that involves the accumulation and deposition of metal debris specifically in the body’s soft tissue. Metallosis occurs when the metallic parts grate or abrade against one another in implant surgeries such as joint replacements.

Brian was 62 at the time of his surgery and suffered from extensive excruciating pain in his hip. He claims that the pain was limiting his enjoyment of his active life and that he had to, inevitably, cut his golf and tennis days short, according to the Zimmer hip implant lawsuit.

The U.S. District Judge Nan Nash said that, “Zimmer Inc., created a faulty device and should pay for past expenses, lost wages, and future medical expenses necessary to remove the dead flesh.”

The judge also contended Zimmer was responsible for causing the infection that further developed because of the hip replacement surgery.

Brian claims that before his surgery, there were already lawsuits being filed about the occurrences of metallosis from hip replacement surgeries. As a result, he had looked at a multitude of option beforehand with his surgeon, and concluded that such incidences with hip replacement surgeries had been resolved, the Zimmer hip implant lawsuit explains.

According to Brian, however, that problem with the device that had been inserted, stemmed from metal debris deriving from the femoral joint, and not the hip socket joint. That metal debris resulted in sending the toxic metal into his leg and drove the deterioration of his leg muscle.

After surgery was performed to remove the metal pieces from his leg, a third operation had to take place to remove the deteriorated muscle that had been killed by the infection.

Treatment for the infection was prescribed and he had to have intravenous antibiotics twice a day for several weeks. Per the Zimmer hip implant lawsuit, “the threat of that infection re-emerging remains for the rest of his life.” Judge Nash had taken this into account when allotting the plaintiff, the $2 million.

Personal injury attorneys throughout the nation celebrate the victory and say that the lawsuit is one of many more to come against Zimmer..

Brian is unable to play as many sports but he sustains his walking ability.

He states of his success that although he was not surprised that the Zimmer hip implant lawsuit developed the way it had, the award granted is a “pleasant end to an ugly ordeal.”

https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/611511-zimmer-hip-implant-lawsuit-results-in-2m-award-for-faulty-hip-replacement/

Zimmer MLTK Hip Replacement: Unreasonably Dangerous Design

Judge rules Zimmer liable for $2 million in hip implant case FiDA highlight

New Mexico court cites 'unreasonably dangerous design'; plaintiff represented by Joseph Osborne of Boca Raton Fl., and Randi McGuinn of Albuquerque

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, April 4, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Medical device manufacturer Zimmer Inc. has been ordered to pay more than $2 million to a New Mexico man for a defective hip implant with an “unreasonably dangerous design,” following a two-week bench trial.

“This is the first case we know of that has gone to trial in the country, and a growing number of these are going to court,” said Joseph Osborne, Jr., of Osborne & Associates in Boca Raton, Fla., who represents medical device plaintiffs around the country. Osborne tried the case with Randi McGinn and Allegra Carpenter of McGinn, Carpenter, Montoya & Love, P.A., of Albuquerque, N.M.

The product in question is Zimmer’s dual modular hip implant, the M/L Taper Hip Prosthesis with Kinectiv Technology (“MLTK”) and a cobalt-chromium head.

In a 27-page decision, New Mexico Judge Nan G. Nash ruled that the defective design and insufficient testing caused likely permanent harm to the plaintiff, resulting in “metallosis,” or a buildup of cobalt debris harming the hip joint and contaminating blood.

“It is never appropriate to design a hip implant system that would create an unreasonable risk of injury to the health or safety of a patient,” Nash wrote, ruling for the patient on grounds of strict products liability.

In February 2010, Michael Brian McDonald, an Albuquerque economist then in his sixties, was suffering right hip pain that was preventing him from his usual tennis and golf. That June, McDonald received the MTLK implant. 

Initial recovery went well, but by May 2011, McDonald suffered from hip and groin pain and loss of flexibility, resulting in two corrective surgeries that October and November, during which the doctor implanted two new prostheses and replaced the cobalt-chromium head with a ceramic head. 

After a lengthy recovery, McDonald sued and the case went to bench trial before Judge Nash December 12-23, 2016, in the Second Judicial District Court in Albuquerque. 

In her March 31 ruling, Judge Nash wrote that the ordeal has forced McDonald to a permanent course of antibiotics, an end to golf and tennis, and the likelihood of a recurrent infection.

“It is more probable than not that Plaintiff will need a third, more complicated revision surgery in the future,” Nash wrote. “This surgery will cost approximately $250,000 and will involve removal of all of the implant components for a period of 2-3 months to try and kill the infection, during which Plaintiff will be wheelchair bound. If the infection can be successfully eradicated, another hip prosthesis will be implanted, necessitating the same type of physical therapy and recovery period as the first two revision surgeries.”

The judge traced the product defect to Zimmer’s testing its components in isolation, but not their interactions together, which would have determined their potential harm.

“In designing the MLTK, Defendants knew that the use of dissimilar metals can result in a

higher potential for corrosion and that wear debris from a junction of two dissimilar metals had

been documented to be toxic and harmful to the human body,” she wrote. 

In determining the damages of $2.027 million, Judge Nan apportioned it into $1 million for past and future pain and suffering, $480,000 for lost enjoyment of life, and the rest for past and future medical expenses, lost household services, and out-of-pocket expenses.

SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT, New Mexico County for Bernalillo, McDonald v. Zimmer Inc. and Zimmer Holdings, Case No. D-202-CV-2013-0406

Osborne & Associates: www.oa-lawfirm.com

McGinn, Carpenter, Montoya & Love, P.A., www.mcginnlaw.com

http://www.einnews.com/pr_news/374449551/judge-rules-zimmer-liable-for-2-million-in-hip-implant-case

Mark Sell

Mark Sell Media

3052065397

Metal on Metal Toxicity from Hip Implants: Dr. Stephen Tower at Healthwatch USA