According to Reuters, a Los Angeles jury has awarded $9.2 million to a man who claims he was injured by a Durom Acetabular Component, or Durom Cup. The verdict marks Zimmer’s first loss in litigation over its Durom Cup hip implant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Zimmer’s Durom Cup in 2006 for use in total hip replacement systems. But only a year had passed when one of Zimmer’s own consultants pointed out an alarming number of Durom Cup recipients who were suffering and in need of revision surgery. It took another year before Zimmer suspended sale of the Durom Cup in order to update its instructions for surgeons. Zimmer re-introduced the Durom Cup in late 2008, assuring that only a small percentage of past patients would require revision surgery.
But this “small percentage” was later estimated to be as high as 15 percent—roughly 2,000 patients. This announcement only lent momentum to the more than 240–member Zimmer hip replacement multidistrict litigation, which had been consolidated in June 2010 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Plaintiffs in Zimmer hip replacement lawsuits contend that the Durom Cup’s defective design led to deterioration and dislocation of the implant within the body. As a result, many patients have had to undergo revision surgery, and some have been irreparably damaged by metallosis caused by the Durom Cup’s metal-on-metal design.
This new victory gives hope to other plaintiffs involved in Zimmer hip replacement lawsuits. The Los Angeles man, who claimed he suffered from complications after two revision surgeries, was awarded $153,000 in medical costs, $6.4 million in future noneconomic damages, and $2.6 million in past noneconomic damages.
Zimmer is just one of several companies currently involved in hip replacement and resurfacing lawsuits. If you or a loved was injured by a hip replacement or resurfacing implant, contact the lawyers at Lopez McHugh today for a free legal consultation. You may be entitled to damages through your own hip replacement lawsuit.