MIKE CURLEY
Law360 (November 2, 2018, 6:15 PM EDT) — The makers of Stryker hip replacement components have reached a confidential settlement with patients who had surgery to replace those components, a group of attorneys leading the litigation announced Friday.
The confidential settlement includes a multidistrict litigation case in Massachusetts federal court and a multicounty litigation in New Jersey state court, each of which was consolidated in 2017.
About 125 cases dealing with Stryker’s unique LFIT Anatomic Cobalt Chromium V40 femoral heads have been centralized in Massachusetts federal court since the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decided in April to allow patients to consolidate their claims. More than 140 other cases have been consolidated in New Jersey state court.
The Stryker component, used for artificial hips, was manufactured by Howmedica Osteonics Corp. and was subject to two separate recalls after patients complained of pain, difficulty walking and tissue damage from corrosion of the products that required further surgery.
“We are pleased we were able to bring a speedy resolution for our clients and are happy they will receive compensation for both the pain these devices caused and the surgeries they had to endure to attempt to undo the damage caused by these faulty implants,” the attorneys for the plaintiffs said in a statement.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in an order Friday that Archer Systems LLC will be the settlement administrator. Discovery in the litigation will be stayed until July 31, 2019, unless Howmedica exercises its settlement walk away rights, the judge said.
In October last year, Judge Talwani had scheduled the first bellwether trial to begin in September 2019.
Representatives for the plaintiffs and for Stryker could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.
The plaintiffs were represented in the settlement negotiations by Peter J. Flowers of Meyers & Flowers, Brenda S. Fulmer and C. Calvin Warriner III of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, Walter Kelley of Bernheim Dolinsky Kelley, Michael L. McGlamry and M.J. Blakely of Pope McGlamry Kilpatrick Morrison & Norwood, Joseph Osborne of Osborne & Francis, Ashleigh Raso of Meshbesher & Spence and Ellen Relkin of Weitz & Luxenberg.
Kim Catullo and Nora Wolf of Gibbons PC negotiated on Stryker’s behalf.
The cases are In re: Stryker LFIT V40 Femoral Head Products Liability Litigation, case number 1:17-md-02768, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and In re: Stryker LFIT CoCr V40 Femoral Heads Hip Implant Litigation, case number 624, docket number BER-L-7859-17, in the Superior Court of Bergen County, New Jersey.
–Additional reporting by Alison Noon. Editing by Marygrace Murphy.
