Stryker Accolade, LFit V40 Hip Lawsuit Filed After Pseudotomors and Hip Failure

According to allegations raised in a recent product liability lawsuit, Stryker Accolade and LFit V40 hip components caused a Pennsylvania man to development metal blood poisoning and large pseudotumors, which ultimately resulted in failure of the hip implant and the need for revision surgery.

The complaint (PDF) was filed last month in the in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania by David Stewart and his wife, Donna, alleging that Stryker sold a defective hip replacement system, which was unreasonably dangerous for consumers.

Stewart had a Stryker Accolade TMZF Plus Stem 127° neck angle implanted with a 36 mm +5 offset CoCr LFIT V40 femoral head on his right hip in April 2006. However, last year, he began experiencing significant pain and discomfort in his right hip where the components were implanted.

Doctors tested Stewart for infection, and to see if the device was out of place, but found nothing. However, in July 2016, blood work detected high levels of metal ions in his blood; specifically cobalt, chromium and titanium. All of those metals and alloys were used in the Stryker Accolade and LFit V40 hip components implanted in his hip.

“On October 15, 2016, Plaintiff attempted to get out of a seated position from his chair and had pain with the inability to move his hip,” the lawsuit states. “As a result, Plaintiff presented to the Emergency Department.”

Stewart’s doctors decided to perform revision surgery to remove his right hip components. During the operation, they discovered a large, black pseudotumor in his hip, a large amount of black metallic debris within the tumor, and that he had suffered gross trunnion failure between the Accolade stem and LFit V40 femoral head.

After receiving similar reports of problems, a Stryker LFit v40 hip recall was issued last summer by the manufacturer, impacting certain large-diameter femoral heads sold before 2011. At that time, Stryker acknowledged that a higher-then-expected number of individuals were experiencing problems with trunnion failure, metal wear, adverse tissue reactions and other complications.

The case filed by Stewart now joins a growing number of other product liability lawsuits filed in recent months by those who have suffered complications due to Stryker Accolade and LFit V40 hip components.

As hip replacement lawyers continue to review cases for individuals who are just now learning that complications experienced in recent years may have been caused by design problems, it is expected that several thousand lawsuits may be filed in the coming months and years.