Zimmer Hip Implant Bellwether Trial To Begin in July

Zimmer Hip Implant Bellwether Trial To Begin in July

Introduction

The trial is set to begin on July 31 for a complaint filed by a Pennsylvania woman over complications due to Zimmer M/L Taper Hip with Kinectiv and Versys femoral head in the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The trial includes claims filed by a plaintiff who suffered internal injuries following a hip implant surgery in January 2011 and underwent revision surgery in 2015 to remove and replace the device. Zimmer M/L Taper perforated her tissues causing severe complications. Zimmer filed a summary judgment motion on May 29 to prevent the trial claiming the complaint did not follow Pennsylvania’s two-year statute of limitations rule. A bifurcation motion was also filed by Zimmer on June 22 to split the trial into two phases; one dealing with the statute of limitations issue before the product liability allegation. Zimmer has requested for two trials with two separate juries in case a summary judgment is not declared.

The U.S. JPML has planned an oral argument session for consolidation of Zimmer M/L Taper lawsuits on September 27, 2018, in San Francisco, California. Zimmer Hip Replacement lawsuits were centralized on June 9, 2010, in the U.S District of New Jersey before Judge Susan D. Wigenton as a multidistrict litigation MDL No. 2158 (In Re: Zimmer Durom Hip Cup Products Liability Litigation).

In August 2015, Judge Amy D. Hogue in L.A. County Superior Court awarded $9.2 million to a plaintiff who suffered due to a manufacturing defect of Zimmer inc. The company appealed against the verdict and succeeded in withholding it as the lawyers for the company argued that the settlement amount was much more than the damages. Zimmer inc. has a brief history of manufacturing defect and putting profit before the patient's safety. Zimmer Inc. settled all Durom Cup lawsuits in March 2016 for an approximate amount of $314 million.