Following a new Exactech knee implant recall issued in April, the parties requested an extension of several pretrial deadlines, which has resulted in the start of the first bellwether trial dates being delayed.
The trial dates for the first two Exactech bellwether lawsuits will be swapped, following a request for additional time to prepare a case involving a knee component that was subject to a new Exactech recall earlier this year.
Claims are part of a series of four Exactech knee implant lawsuits now scheduled for bellwether trials beginning between June 2025 and January 2026.
While the first federal Exactech knee lawsuits will go to trial next year, the first claim to go before a jury is expected later this year in Florida state court.
Selections will be made after the U.S. District Judge presiding over all Exactech knee recall lawsuits rejected a request by the manufacturer to delay the preparation of bellwether claims for early trial dates.
Late last month, the manufacturer of recalled Exactech implants asked a judge to halt the active litigation while parties discuss a potential global hip and knee lawsuit settlement.
Court asked plaintiffs to respond to Exactech's request to hold off on further case-specific discovery by Friday, to determine whether scheduled trials will move forward or the parties will shift to global settlement negotiations.
FDA investigators found that Exactech failed take proper corrective actions to address packaging defects that caused joint replacement recalls and Exactech knee, hip and ankle implants to fail
Lawyers will select a dozen Exactech knee replacement lawsuits that will go through case-specific discovery and be prepared for a series of early test trials, with the first two scheduled to begin June 2, 2025 and August 5, 2025.
The FDA is warning doctors not to implant Exactech Equinoxe shoulder systems manufactured before August 2021, due to defective packaging that could increase the risk of early problems with the shoulder replacement.
