As Stryker Hip Lawsuits Are Settled, Concerns Raised About ShapeMatch Cutting Guide

Newark, NJAs Stryker settles four of its hip replacement lawsuits, concerns have been raised about the Stryker Triathlon knee implant, and knee replacement lawsuits have reportedly been filed alleging problems with the ShapeMatch Cutting Guide, used along with the Triathlon knee implant.

In December 2013, Styker reportedly settled four lawsuits filed in New Jersey state court. The lawsuits, which alleged patients were harmed by defective Stryker Rejuvenate hip implants, were settled for an undisclosed amount, according to The Record (12/17/13). The lawsuits alleged patients were told the hip implants would last decades but in fact failed quickly, in some cases in less than two years.

Patients who experienced hip implant failure often require revision surgery to replace the implant. That surgery is usually costly and more complicated than the initial implant surgery. Furthermore, as the device wears down, patients can experience muscle and tissue damage as metallic debris is worn off the device and absorbed into surrounding tissue.

Stryker reportedly faces more than 600 lawsuits regarding the Rejuvenate hip implant.

As those lawsuits are settled, concerns have reportedly been raised about another Stryker product, the ShapeMatch Cutting Guide, which is used during knee replacement surgery to position the implant components and guide bone marking prior to cutting the bone. Concerns about the ShapeMatch Cutting Guide, however, include issues with the cutting guide not meeting FDA parameters and not meeting the parameters the doctor enters into the program that creates the cutting guide.

What this means for patients is that the knee implant may be misaligned, causing joint instability, fracture, limited mobility, chronic pain and possibly requiring revision surgery. In April 2013, Stryker issued a Class I medical device recall regarding the ShapeMatch Cutting Guide.

One such lawsuit is Corley v. Stryker Corporation, case number 6:13-cv-02571, filed by Ouita Corley. According to court documents, Corley’s surgeon used the ShapeMatch Cutting Guide for her March 30, 2009 total knee replacement surgery. Following that surgery, Corley reportedly suffered knee pain, limited mobility and joint instability, and follow-up testing shows the knee replacement is misaligned. As a result, Corley may require replacement of her knee implant.

“It is believed that with respect to ShapeMatch Cutting Guide, Defendants failed to timely report adverse events; failed to timely conduct failure investigations and analysis; failed to timely report any and all information concerning product failures and corrections…” the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit seeks general, compensatory, special and punitive damages.