Exactech Cases on Hold
Bellwether trials scheduled to begin in September 20225 have been put on hold. The first bellwether case was expected to inform the direction of the litigation, and another trial was scheduled for November 2025. An Exactech hip implant lawsuit slated this month before a Florida state court jury is also stayed.
As of the end of October, the Florida medical device maker faces over 2,000 state and federal lawsuits, reported CBS News. (One law firm counts more than 2,500 Exactech lawsuits filed in federal and state courts, with about 1,800 claims pending in the MDL before Judge Garaufis.)
Darin Johnson, Exactech's president and chief executive officer, stated to KFF Health News that the company faces "unsustainable liabilities associated with knee and hip litigation related to the packaging recalls we voluntarily initiated between 2021 and 2022." However, Exactech said it would continue to operate during the bankruptcy proceedings. “We take our commitment to patient well-being very seriously and have provided substantial out-of-pocket patient reimbursements and surgeon support for related expenses,” said Johnson.
One Florida attorney argues the bankruptcy "serves to cover up public disclosure of the company putting profits ahead of safety [and the bankruptcy filing] stops the public trial and conceals the truth about the company's conduct.
After an investigation into Exactech, KFF News published in October 2023 that it found hundreds of instances where the company took years to report adverse events to a federal database that tracks device failures. The report analyzed over 300 pending cases where surgeons had removed approximately 200 implants in less than seven years. These devices typically have a shelf life of 15-20 years. (Exactech began recalling its knee, hip and ankle replacements in August 2021, initially blaming a packaging company for its defects.)
It is unclear how the device company will progress during this stay, but ongoing lawsuits have been paused. Judge Garaufis has ordered the parties to update him on the reorganization status every 90 days, following a status conference scheduled for January 9, 2025.
READ MORE DEFECTIVE HIP IMPLANT LEGAL NEWS
Bankruptcies on the Rise
By the end of this year, the number of U.S. companies that filed for bankruptcy was estimated to be on track to reach a 14-year high, according to Bloomberg Law.
The U.S. Court announced in November 2024 that business filings rose 33.5 percent, from 17,051 to 22,762 in the year ending September 30, 2024. According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, annual bankruptcy filings totalled 504,112 in the year ending September 2024, compared with 433,658 cases in the previous year.