Wright Hip Replacement Lawsuit Settles Five Days Before Trial

A lawsuit involving Wright Medical’s Profemur hip replacement has been settled for an undisclosed amount.  The Wright Profemur hip settlement was entered by the court on November 7, about five days before the trial was expected to start. The plaintiffs are Timothy R. Courson and his wife, Linda Courson. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

The Coursons’ product liability complaint alleges Timothy Courson received a hip replacement that included a Wright Profemur Plasma Z hip stem. A year earlier, Courson was walking at work when his hip replacement failed.  A second surgery was necessary as a result. The complaint was filed in May 2012.

Wright Profemur hip settlement resolves one of many cases

There are a number of Wright Profemur hip replacement lawsuits pending in courts throughout the country.  They make similar allegations that patients experienced problems when the modular femoral stem broke after implant. The Profemur stem has two modular pieces allowing the implant to be adjusted for leg length, unlike traditional hip replacement systems, which feature a single femoral component. Plaintiffs allege the design is prone to move, corrode and break at the femoral neck stem.

Product liability attorneys involved in other hip replacement litigation were closely watching the outcome of this case.  It was expected to help gauge how juries may respond to similar evidence and testimony expected to be offered in other cases.

This is at least the second Wright Profemur hip settlement reached just before trial was set to begin. A settlement was reached in a Wright hip replacement lawsuit filed by Gregory Tucker in March.  The agreement came a day after the judge denied defendant’s motion to dismiss.

According to the complaint, the Wright Profemur hip was defective and the company did more harm than good trying to fix it.  The Coursons allege Wright sent a representative after his implant failed, who provided an extraction device to aid in the revision surgery. This extraction device also broke while it was being used, causing further injury.  Another surgery was required remove the Wright Medical Profemur and the company’s broken extraction device.

Wright hip replacement lawsuits disclosed to SEC

Wright disclosed in a filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in April that it is a defendant in a number of product liability claims involving Wright Profemur hip replacements.  The company also warned investors the recall of Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II hip stems in July 2012 led to increased scrutiny of cobalt chrome modular neck products, something which could negatively impact Profemur sales.

Court documents show that Wright Medical is a defendant in nearly 80 lawsuits involving its Conserve hip replacement line. They have been consolidated in a federal multidistrict litigation now underway in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia. These Wright hip replacement lawsuits claim plaintiffs suffered injuries due to the metal-on-metal design of the Conserve Total Hip Implant System, Conserve Total A-Class Advanced Metal Hip Implant System and the Conserve Resurfacing System.

Wright’s SEC filing also disclosed that additional Conserve hip replacement lawsuits have been consolidated in California Superior Court for pretrial handling pursuant to procedures of the California State Judicial Counsel Coordinated Proceedings.

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