Canadian Judge Approves Class-Action Status for Hip Replacement Lawsuit

Vancouver, CanadaA British Columbia, Canada Supreme Court judge recently certified a class-action hip replacement lawsuit, which has been leveled against Zimmer for its Durom acetabular implant.

According to the Vancouver Sun, Justice Gregory Brown ruled in a recent judgment that the potential class-action lawsuit would cover all people in Canada who had received the specific implant.

Susan Wilkinson is reportedly listed as the representative plaintiff, who reportedly received her implant in April 2008, the news source said. Just three months after the surgery, Wilkinson claims she began to experience a feeling of pain in her left leg, groin and hip, according to the lawsuit.

Additionally, the lead plaintiff claimed she felt a clicking sensation in her hip and believed it was going to "pop out," forcing her to begin using a cane in January of 2009. The woman has also claimed that the pain caused by her hip implant made it difficult for her to sleep and necessitated her consumption of pain killers every four hours.

Beyond the health issues Wilkinson claims to have experienced as a result of the implant surgery, she also contends that the hip replacement ultimately hindered her ability at work, according to the lawsuit.

Wilkinson, 51, works as a nurse and is required to spend a significant amount of time on her feet. However, she claimed she was unable to work some days due to the pain, the news source reported.

The pain from the alleged failed hip replacement also had an impact on Wilkinson's day-to-day activities, as she was reportedly not able to continue doing some of the things she loved, including gardening, skiing, golfing and curling, according to the lawsuit.

The British Columbia Supreme Court reportedly heard that at least 33 Durom hip replacement devices had failed in Canada, with nearly 5,000 of the products having been sold throughout the country since 2005.

Wilkinson, like many others in her situation, claims she was forced to undergo a revision surgery to remove the implant in 2009, at which point it was allegedly determined that the device had not properly adhered to her bone, according to the lawsuit.

A number of lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers of hip replacement products, including Zimmer and the DePuy Orthopaedics unit of Johnson & Johnson. With evidence seemingly mounting that many of the products tend to fail quicker than expected, the US Food and Drug Administration has sought studies from manufacturers of metal-on-metal implant devices to determine the specific health threats associated with them.