In a recently filed product liability lawsuit, Stryker Howmedica Osteonics Corporation's hip implant component Secur-Fit femoral stem and C-Taper LFit femoral head were reported to be defectively designed and prone to corrosion. The lawsuit was filed by a couple on September 13 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota and indicates the implant is unreasonably risky.
The man underwent a left total hip arthroplasty in January 2011, and within a year of the surgery, he started developing pain and stiffness in the hip. After undergoing a revision surgery in October 2016, he suffered severe tissue necrosis and black sludge corrosion at the interface of the trunnion interface. The complaint filed states, the combination of a titanium alloy stem with a cobalt/chromium femoral head is known to cause fretting and corrosion, which was ignored by the manufacturer. Stryker faces hundreds of product liability lawsuits linked to complications of its LFit hip implant. Lawsuits associated with Stryker LFit components have been centralized for coordinated pretrial proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts overlooked by Judge Indira Talwani. The first bellwether trial has been scheduled to commence in September 2019.
