Zimmer & Stryker Continue To Face Product Liability Charges

Introduction

Judge Michael L. Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia sanctioned a manufacturing defect claim in the Zimmer NexGen Knee case to proceed. The federal judge denied Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc.'s request for summary judgment and stated that the plaintiff presented enough evidence against the device maker. However, on September 27, a summary judgment was granted to Zimmer on the plaintiff’s failure-to-warn claim since it was barred by the learned intermediary doctrine. The plaintiff was implanted with Zimmer's knee replacement device in 2007 to treat his chronic left knee pain and experienced severe complications seven years later due to device breakage and flaws in the design.

In another motion passed on August 29, an Illinois federal judge Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel allowed the plaintiff involved in Stryker's hip replacement lawsuit over alleged injuries caused due to the Rejuvenate device, to proceed with her product liability claim against the defendants.

Last month, a plaintiff involved in the Zimmer hip implant litigation appealed to the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reinstate her lawsuit, which was dismissed in August by U.S. District Court Judge Edward G. Smith over late filing.

Hip and Knee implant manufacturers face thousands of allegations over design failures and inadequate warning linked to their device use.

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