Last month, a Wright Profemur hip replacement lawsuit was set for trial in Georgia federal court, but settled for a confidential amount approximately five days prior to the date trial was set to start. Additionally, the settlement occurred just one day after a judge denied Defendants’ motion to dismiss the case.
The Settlement Order, which was ultimately granted, was entered on November 7th in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia. The lawsuit was initially filed by someone who received the Profemur hip during surgery in September of 2009, but required revision surgery under two years later after the femoral neck fractured. The complaint also alleges that a tool which was manufactured by Wright Medical Technology was defective and made the plaintiff’s injuries worse.
According to court documents, this is the second Wright hip lawsuit involving the Profemur product that has settled in the past year. The first came in March of last year, where a Joint Notice of Settlement was filed on another case in front of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. The amount of that settlement was also confidential.
The Wright Profemur hip replacement system was initially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the 510(k) clearance program (which allows products to bypass any human clinical trials if the manufacturer can prove that the design is substantially equivalent to another product which is already approved in the market).
In 2009, the Australian National Joint Replacement Registry found that 11.2% of Wright Profemur femoral systems failed after three years of implantation, if not sooner.
In April, Wright warned its investors that the July 2012 Stryker hip recall for Rejuvenate and ABG II hip systems has led to criticism about the cobalt chrome modular neck products, and that this could result in decreased sales for their Profemur product. They also disclosed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that they were the subject of several product liability lawsuits involving the Wright Profemur hip replacements.
Additionally, Wright Medical Technology seems to be facing over 80 new lawsuits with their Conserve hip replacement line. Those lawsuits have been consolidated in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, by federal multidistrict litigation to save court costs and expedite the discovery process. Those proceedings are currently underway, and all allege injuries resulting from the metal-on-metal design of three different Conserve products.
If you have a Wright Profemur hip replacement or a Wright Conserve hip, you may be entitled to compensation for any damages or injuries resulting from the faulty product.
Feel free to contact one of our Gacovino Lake attorneys at 1-800-246-HURT (4878) for more information, or stop by our website for more information.
