Lawsuit Filed Over Failure of a Smith & Nephew Knee Implant Component

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A Mississippi woman has filed a product liability lawsuit against Smith & Nephew over an allegedly defective knee implant component, which broke less than six months after it was implanted. 

The complaint was filed last month in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi by Barbara Griffin, who received an allegedly defective Smith & Nephew lateral proximal tibia locking plate.

According to the lawsuit, the Smith & Nephew knee component was installed on November 11, 2009 to treat a tibial plateau fracture. However, a March 11, 2010 X-ray revealed that the plate was broken. A later examination showed that the break was caused by fatigue from everyday use, which the lawsuit claims is a sign of a defective device.

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Spinal-Cord-Stimulation-Lawsuit

Do You Know About…

Spinal Cord Stimulator lawsuits

Spinal cord stimulator lawsuits are being investigated for individuals who suffered unnecessary shocks, burns or other problems, often resulting in the need for additional surgery to remove the SCS.

Learn More
SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR COMPENSATION

Griffin’s lawsuit accuses the medical device manufacturer of negligence in designing and making a defective knee implant and in failing to warn healthcare providers and patients of the risks of their products. The lawsuit calls the plate unreasonably dangerous and seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

Smith & Nephew has faced a number of issued involving its knee components over the last couple of years, resulting in recalls for certain Journey Uni Tibial Baseplates and a growing number of people have filed a Smith & Nephew knee replacement lawsuit alleging they received a defective component.

In early 2010, nearly 40,000 Journey Uni Tibial Baseplates were recalled due to a number of reported failures, which may have a tendency to fracture or break. This could result in severe pain and instability, often resulting in the need for surgery to revise the Smith & Nephew knee replacement or replace the base plate.

In February 2011, a study was presented to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons that found that 16% of Smith & Nephew Journey-Deuce knee implants began to fail within 21 months and 39% of recipients reported poor results after receiving the implant.

Tags: Knee Replacement, Product Liability, Smith & Nephew
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6 Comments

Maria
Had a full knee replacement Aug 2015 with a Smith & Nephew Genesis II knee. 7 months post op the polyethylene plate slipped from the tipial plate and my surgeon replaced it with a thicker one. I have missed a lot of work due to this and I fear there could be more problems coming.
rick
Had a partial knee replacement done in march2015. About 6 weeks into it the poly ethylene plate slipped from the tibia plate. Took about week and a half to get in and get surgery to fix it. got it fixed Dr. put in a smaller poly ethylene plate. Went 6 days it went out again. doc said I should go full knee replacement. so week and half later I had a full knee put in. the partial knee was a Smith Nephew. Any body out there have this problem? any advice?
carlene
I’m having knee surgery again for the 5th time tomorrow because I’ve had nothing but pain for the past 6years,more pain than than before my first knee replacement 6years ago.I had a Smith &Nephew total knee replacement done in 2008,about a 1,5 year later was having it replaced again,this will be my 2nd surgery this year don’t know who to turn to,has effected my life greatly can’t do the every things,can’t walk to far can’t shop can’t stand t[ long to cook or do dishes can’t play with my grandkids can’t walk my dog my life is misable. Tired of being in pain all the time want my life back,if I would have known this is how it was going to be I would not have had it done.
stephen
Had tkr 10/2010 and had a revision in 8/2011 by a very respectable Dr , and mine is a glued knee Smith&Nephew genesis oxium that didn’t set up properlly I guess and shifted and was told the only other recourse is to do a whle bottom replacement with a chanch of loosing my leg, great , smith & nephew needs to take a look at the training that they are giving in installing these implants because I’m the one stuck with the bad leg now and dreading doing it over
Cynthia
I had a Deuce partical replacement done in Nov. of 2008 and I am much worse off now then before my surgery. I was told by my surgeon that my surgery took so much longer then expected because it was, “a complicated partial replacement”. I ask why he didn’t do a total replacement if it was that complicated and his response was, “you are too young”. I am now completely disabled and can no longer to anything that I did before the surgery. I have a list of permanemt restrictions that put me on disability.
Jeff
I had a partial S & M Deuce replacement that had to be revised with a full replacement 19 months later. It fractured my shin bone and contributed to my being declared fully disabled.

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