The Future Of Zimmer Knee Lawsuits To Be Decided In Illinois

All federal lawsuits over problems with Zimmer NexGen recall have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, which will be centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Following oral arguments last month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order on Monday establishing the MDL, which will result in the transfer of dozens of Zimmer NexGen knee implant lawsuits currently pending in federal district courts throughout the United States. In addition, all future lawsuits will be transferred to the MDL as they are filed by Zimmer knee lawyer who are continuing to review claims for individuals throughout the country.

The NexGen MIS Tibial component is marketed and promoted as compatible with the LPS-Flex and CR-Flex femoral components and they are often used together. According to the motion, of the 28 cases now pending against Zimmer, many are a combination of a NexGen high-flex and NexGen MIS tibial. Zimmer obtained approval for the Zimmer NexGen recall components through the FDA’s controversial 510(k) approval process,

Judicial Panel Claims Zimmer Knee’s “High-Flex” Shows No Improvement

All federal lawsuits over problems with Zimmer NexGen knee replacements have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, which will be centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.Following oral arguments last month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order on Monday establishing the MDL, which will result in the transfer of dozens of Zimmer NexGen knee implant Zimmer knee lawsuit. The panel indicated that there are currently 28 cases that will be transferred into the MDL, and there appear to be at least 45 related claims pending that may be included in the MDL as well. In addition, all future lawsuits will be transferred to the MDL as they are filed by Zimmer knee lawyer who are continuing to review claims for individuals throughout the country.

Zimmer opposed consolidation of the lawsuits, arguing that it will not promote the efficient litigation of the cases, as there are at least eight different artificial Zimmer knee problems products made by the company that are included in various lawsuits.

Various Zimmer Knee Products Listed in Lawsuits

A number of Zimmer NexGen recall replacement recalls have been issued and problems have been linked to other NexGen replacement knee components. As a result of defective designs, individuals throughout the United States may have been exposed to an increased risk of loosening or early failure, often resulting in the need for Zimmer knee revision surgery. More than 200,000 potentially defective Zimmer NexGen knee replacement components may have been used throughout the United States, which could have caused thousands of people to experience problems or require additional knee revision surgery due to early failure of their knee replacement.

All federal lawsuits over problems with Zimmer knee recall replacements have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, which will be centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

Zimmer Lower’s Revenue Estimates While Lawsuits Rage In Court

Back in July, Zimmer Holdings predicted its sales revenues to increase between 2.5% and 3.5%. The Company reported revenues of $4.220 billion for fiscal 2010. According toestimates, analysts were expecting the Company to report EPS of $4.77 on revenues of $4.473 billion for fiscal 2011. Since July of this year, Zimmer stock has been steadily sinking to the tune of about $15 per share or 22%. Zimmer has had a rough year on many fronts, not the least of which is the ever increasing number of lawsuits building against its knee and hip replacements. Since 2003, more than 200,000 Zimmer NexGen recall knee replacement components have been sold within the United States.

Following reports of at least 114 Zimmer knee complications, the manufacturer issued a recall for Zimmer NexGen MIS Tibial Components, NextGen TM Tibial Trays, NexGen MIS Modular Tibial Plates and Keels. The Zimmer NexGen MIS Zimmer knee recall affected more than 68,000 knee components that were distributed throughout the United States.Several months prior to the recall,

Zimmer Durom Cup MDL Could be Most Costly in History

The Zimmer Durom Cup is the component most often cited in Zimmer hip litigation, and it is theorized that as many as 12,000 plaintiffs could join the ever-growing Zimmer litigation. Settlements will depend on the amount of suffering and the nature of the side effect a plaintiff has had to endure as well as the number of patients involved.The Zimmer Durom Cup hip implant was first introduced in the United States in 2006, with a design that was supposed to avoid many problems associated with traditional hip replacement components. However, shortly after it was introduced, concerns emerged about a high number of Zimmer hip replacement recall failures involving the Durom Cup, where the component loosened and required Zimmer hip revision surgery.

No Zimmer hip settlements are expected until late 2011 or 2012 as the Zimmer hip MDL proceeds. While Zimmer’s own estimates in 2008 suggested that some doctors experienced failure rates as high as 5.7%, some claims have suggested that the between 20% and 30% of people may experience Zimmer Durom Cup hip problems.

Zimmer Hip Implant Failure Leads to More and More Lawsuits

Approximately 12,000 individuals had the Zimmer Durom Cup Zimmer hip implant failure between 2006 and 2008. While Zimmer’s own estimates in 2008 suggested that some doctors experienced failure rates as high as 5.7%, some claims have suggested that the between 20% and 30% of people may experience problems with a Zimmer Durom Cup hip.Zimmer press releases indicated that many U.S. surgeons had had success implanting the cup, but a subset of patients had experienced "elevated revision rates" since the product’s launch, contrasting with “excellent” clinical outcomes reported by surgeons in Europe.  The device is more often used in hip resurfacing procedures in Europe.

Zimmer Inc., recognizing the potential legal risk regarding the controversial hip, has set aside more than $40 million to cover the exposure resulting in the defective medical device.The class representative plaintiff in a class action Zimmer Hip Lawsuit against Zimmer,is Susan Wilkinson, who began experiencing pain and problems from her Zimmer hip implant only three months after she received it in April 2008. She subsequently had to undergo Zimmer hip revision surgery in 2009 to have the Durom Cup removed.In the United States, a temporary Zimmer Durom Cup recall was issued in July 2008,

Zimmer Knee Lawsuits Finally Consolidated

Zimmer, one of the nation’s largest orthopedic manufacturing companies, stands by the claim that the NexGen family of products—over 40 models of knee replacement systems—have one of the lowest failure rates and rates of Zimmer knee revision surgery out of all the knee revision products in the industry. A number of patients of the Zimmer NexGen recall CR-Flex device may beg to differ, however. A number of lawsuits filed across the country are pointing fingers at the orthopedics company, claiming that their devices have resulted in knee problems such as trouble standing, walking, and enjoying the same quality of life as they used to. Patients have also complained of severe knee pain and knee replacement failure. These conditions often lead to knee revision surgery.

Knee revision surgery is at the heart of a number of Zimmer lawsuits, which have been recently combined in multidistrict litigation by Zimmer knee lawyer. Knee revision surgery is a second surgery, which can be both costly and painful, that is intended to remove a faulty or defective knee replacement device and fit the patient with a new one that will hopefully cause fewer problems.