Stryker Settles Some Metal Hip Lawsuits

Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy division wasn’t the only device company settling metal-on-metal hip lawsuits at the end of 2013.

According to the New Jersey Record, four patients settled their claims against Stryker Corporation in New Jersey at the beginning of December. The patients alleged that the company’s Rejuvenate metal-on-metal hip injured them. Attorneys representing the patients would not disclose the financial terms, citing confidentiality agreements. But they told the newspaper that a deal came through after two weeks of mediation hearings.

J&J recently submitted a $2.5 billion-plus settlement offer to resolve 8, 000 lawsuits over its recalled ASR implants.

Stryker is already dealing with 600 metal hip lawsuits and thousands more are anticipated. The company voluntarily recalled the Rejuvenate implant in July 2012. More than 20, 000 patients across the country received the implant. The first of the lawsuits against Stryker was filed a month after the recall.

As of the third quarter of 2013, Stryker recorded $700 million in charges relating to the all-metal hip recall effort stemming mostly from expenses relating to the Rejuvenate and ABG II.

Biomet, Inc. is also dealing with its own onslaught of metal hip lawsuits. More than 900 Biomet lawsuits have been consolidated in U.S. District Court in Indiana and a status conference on those cases is scheduled for January 6, 2014.