Lawsuits Over Zimmer Hip Replacements Continue to Mount

A California man has filed a Zimmer hip replacement lawsuit, alleging that a Durom Cup implant he received is defective and caused him to suffer severe pain. The case joins a growing number of product liability lawsuits over the Zimmer Durom Cup that have been filed throughout the United States.

The complaint was filed on July 16 in Los Angeles by James Cabral, 57, from Victorville, California. Cabral received the Zimmer Durom Cup hip replacement implant in early 2008. In July of that year, sales of the metal-on-metal hip implant were suspended due to an unexpectedly high failure rate. Sales resumed several months later after Zimmer improved the warnings and instructions that accompany the device.

According to Cabral’s lawsuit, he suffered severe and constant pain for 18 months and will require surgery to remove and replace the hip implant. Cabral alleges that the implant has negatively affected his active lifestyle and says he often has to use a cane for support.

Last month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decided to consolidate and centralize all lawsuits over the Zimmer hip replacement in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) for pretrial litigation. At that time, 45 cases had been filed in federal courts throughout the United States. However, as additional cases are filed by Zimmer Durom Cup injury lawyers in federal court, they will be transferred to New Jersey for coordinated handling.

The Zimmer Durom Cup was first introduced in the United States in 2006, as a more advanced form of an artificial hip. The hip resurfacing system is designed out of a single piece of material and is supposed to avoid problems associated with traditional hip replacement components, such as instability, limited range of motion and wear of the bearing.

Shortly after Zimmer introduced the Durom Cup in the United States, concerns emerged about a high number of hip replacement failures involving the hip implant, where the component loosened and required revision surgery. A temporary Zimmer Durom Cup recall was issued in July 2008, so that revisions could be made to the product’s warnings and instructions to ensure that doctors were properly trained on the surgical techniques needed to implant the artificial hip correctly.

Approximately 12,000 individuals had the Zimmer Durom Cup system implanted in their hip between 2006 and 2008. While Zimmer’s own estimates in 2008 suggested that some doctors have experienced failure rates as high as 5.7%, more recent claims suggest that the Durom Cup failure rate is between 20% and 30%.

As of the end of last year, more than 500 adverse event reports have been filed with the FDA regarding Zimmer Durom Cup problems and many experts anticipate that the rate of hip cup loosenings could increase as time passes after the surgery.