Filing a Lawsuit Over Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement Injury
Over the last two decades, hip manufacturing companies have paid billions of dollars to settle thousands of metal-on-metal hip replacement failure lawsuits. Many of those lawsuits involve metal-on-metal hip replacement devices, which were popular in the 2000s before doctors and patients learned about the dangers. If you received one of these medical devices, you may recover compensation if your implant failed and you required revision surgery. Contact an experienced law firm to help you recover the financial and non-economic costs of your hip replacement failure. We recognize the fear, anxiety, pain and suffering that those with metal-on-metal devices endured, and we are here to help ease some of that pain and suffering. Do not attempt to handle this on your own. Get the right legal team behind you. Our firm is filing lawsuits against several hip replacement manufacturers. While many cases consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL), victims of metal-on-metal hip replacements continue to file lawsuits because their implants loosened, caused metallosis (metal poisoning), pain, swelling, or dislocation, or required revision surgery. Do not ignore the pain and suffering associated with metal-on-metal hip replacements. An experienced law firm can fight for the compensation you deserve.
Metallosis Caused by Metal on Metal Hip Implants
Metallosis is one of the worst effects many of metal-on-metal hip replacement recipients have experienced. When metal parts replace the ball and socket of the natural hip, they rub together when you move your leg. The friction can cause small particles of cobalt and chrome to disperse into your bloodstream. This causes metal poisoning, which can destroy the nerves, bones, and muscles surrounding your hip. The metals released into your bloodstream can also damage your brain, heart, and kidneys. Some metallosis symptoms include rashes on the skin, hearing or vision loss, heart failure, kidney failure, thyroid issues, and mental impairment.
Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement Metallosis Symptoms
If you have experienced any of the following symptoms after a metal on metal hip replacement, contact your doctor to immediately test your blood:
- Groin or thigh pain
- Pain at the site of the surgery
- Device dislocation
- Swelling
- Inflammation
- Rash
- Irritation
- Infection
- Metal taste in the mouth
- Shortness of breath
- Popping or squeaking at the site of surgery
- Black tissue
- Bone deterioration
- Confusion or erratic behavior
These are all symptoms of metal toxicity. Their presence can play a factor in the amount of compensation you receive.
What Are the Financial Costs of a Hip Replacement Failure?
Victims of metal-on-metal hip replacements can recover compensation for their medical bills from the hip replacement and any subsequent revision surgeries, rehabilitation or other medical bills, medication or treatment bills, and lost income. The medical records and receipts you’ve received can prove your financial costs to a court and jury. If you could no longer work or had to limit your work hours due to the surgery, revision surgeries, rehabilitation, or pain and suffering, you can recover compensation for your lost income.
What Are the Non-Economic Costs of a Hip Replacement Failure?
The primary non-economic costs of a hip replacement failure are the pain and suffering the patient endured. To demonstrate your non-economic damages, you need a law firm representing you that can evaluate the medical records provided by your orthopedic surgeon, reports from the original and revision surgery, and all device records from both the original and revision surgeries. You will want a hip replacement lawyer to remove the stress and confusion from trying to track down these records so you can heal from the damage caused by your metal-on-metal hip replacement.
How Much Compensation Have Others Received From Metal-on-metal Hip Replacement Failure Lawsuits?
Major companies, such as DePuy, Stryker, Smith & Nephew, and Zimmer settled tens of thousands of lawsuits through MDLs, with settlement amounts totaling billions of dollars. Specifically, in December 2018, Bloomberg reported that Johnson & Johnson (DePuy’s parent company) paid an average settlement amount of $125,000 for 3,300 of 10,000 cases filed in the MDL. In May 2019, Reuters reported the company again agreed to pay $1 billion to settle almost 6,000 cases for the metal-on-metal hip replacement lawsuits filed against it where the plaintiffs required surgical extraction. In December 2014, Stryker settled more than 5,000 lawsuits with a $1.425 billion settlement for the Rejuvenate and ABG II modular-neck hip implants. This amount was amended in July 2015 and amended again in December 2016, allowing the people who qualified for the settlement to increase and to extend the deadline. The plaintiffs who agreed to settle received a base compensation of $300,000. People could still receive more than the base if they proved or demonstrated greater complications or pain and suffering. While these settlements represent some of the potential compensation victims can recover from these major manufacturers, the amount each person receives can vary. The settlement or verdict depends greatly on damages you show. A hip replacement lawyer can document:
- The costs of your initial surgery;
- The costs of any replacement or revision surgery;
- The complications you experienced and the costs associated with those complications;
- The length of time these complications have spanned;
- The amount of time you couldn’t work;
- The presence of permanent or temporary disability;
- Long-term effects on your well-being or lifestyle.
How Can I File a Hip Replacement Lawsuit?
Most of the lawsuits consolidate into existing Multi-District Litigation. You need to hire a law firm that understands hip replacement lawsuits and MDLs. You can either file your case directly into the MDL or in the venue where you live. If you file directly in the venue, the court may transfer your case to the MDL and place it on hold pending bellwether trials (test trials that involve cases derived from the large pool of lawsuits). After some of these trials, the defendants may want to settle the remainder of the cases. MDLs save costs and judicial resources for plaintiffs. People in similar situations or with the same complications, side effects, and damages join together instead of facing multi-billion-dollar companies alone. They can pool their resources and settle or try their cases more efficiently in what is known as a class action lawsuit. The right guidance from an experienced law firm can make this overwhelming or confusing process easier to navigate and explain your remedies or potential compensation.
When Do I Have to File a Hip Replacement Lawsuit?
If you or a loved one was injured by a faulty metal-on-metal hip replacement, contact a law firm as soon as possible to pursue compensation. Statutes of limitations often apply, giving you a limited time to file a lawsuit. Begin the process quickly so the law firm can help you gather all of the relevant information, records, and details to support your case.
I’m Experiencing Issues With My Hip Replacement. What Should I Do Now?
If you or a loved one needed a revision surgery or experienced any symptoms or complications after receiving a faulty metal on metal hip replacement, find the right law firm to fight for your right to recover the most compensation you deserve. The right law firm can gather all of the necessary documents, records, and evidence, and meet all of the legal requirements and filing deadlines.
Dolman Law Group Personal Injury Lawyers
The attorneys of Dolman Law Group have been assisting the people of Florida with a variety of lawsuits ranging from slip and fall to defective medical devices for years now. Our firm has developed a reputation as one of the top law practices in the state and as a firm that provides results without sacrificing close interaction with our clients. Dolman Law Group can assist you with determining what legal options are available to you and how to move forward after suffering injuries due to issues with metal-on-metal hip replacements. We offer free consultations to those harmed this way and are more than happy to sit with you to discuss what our firm can do to assist you in this difficult time. Contact the hip replacement lawyers of Dolman Law Group now to help you file for the compensation you deserve and help you recover from the financial damages and pain and suffering you endured.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA 800 N Belcher Rd Clearwater, FL 33765 (727) 451-6900 https://www.dolmanlaw.com/hip-replacement-lawyers/
