Judge Robert L. Miller Jr. overseeing the Biomet M2a hip implant multidistrict litigation transferred 46 cases to the plaintiffs' home courts to resolve case-specific issues such as timeliness and spoliation. The judge opined in a September 6 order that the cases would no longer benefit from pretrial proceedings and that the plaintiffs have not agreed upon the trial of cases in the MDL court.
More than 2,800 lawsuits have been filed against the hip implant maker for a wide variety of complications, including metallosis caused due to broken metal particles releasing into the blood from the artificial joint. Metal-on-metal hip implants have been associated with severe complications among several patients. The lawsuits filed across the nation claim the manufacturer was aware of the defective design of the device and purposely concealed its health risks. The federal multidistrict litigation involves class action lawsuits filed against Zimmer, Biomet, Stryker and many other manufacturers for failing to provide an inadequate warning about the alleged device breakage.
