More than 3,400 people sued Stryker after problems with its Rejuvenate and ABG II hip led the company to pull the implants off the market. The company settled lawsuits over the devices in 2014. Less than two years later, the company recalled 42,000 other implants, triggering a new wave of lawsuits against the company.

Stryker has paid nearly $2 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits over its Rejuvenate and ABG II hip implants. The deadline to file a lawsuit under the settlement was March 2017. Stryker expected all settlement payments to be delivered by the end of 2017. As of May 2018, more than 1,200 lawsuits were still pending in a Minnesota federal court as part of the MDL.

More than 1,000 cases over ABG II hip replacements were also still pending in a New Jersey multicounty litigation (MCL).

Meanwhile, lawsuits over the company’s LFIT V40 femoral head hip components are still being filed. Those cases are still in the early stages and hundreds more lawsuits over the devices could be filed before the first trial expected in late 2019.

As of May 2018, more than 100 lawsuits over the LFIT V40 had been combined in New Jersey state courts as a multicounty litigation (MCL). Another 271 lawsuits from across the U.S. had been combined in a Minnesota federal court as a multidistrict litigation (MDL). MDLs and MCLs allow several similar lawsuits to be consolidated to pool resources, reduce duplication and move cases more quickly through the courts.

People who sued Stryker over faulty hip implants claimed their devices caused severe pain and other complications that required additional surgery to repair.

Stryker’s faulty hip implants disrupted the lives of thousands of people who thought their lives would improve after getting a hip replacement.

Court documents show that people from across the country experienced similar complications from several types of Stryker hip replacements. At least six models of Stryker hip implants or their components have been named in lawsuits.

In 2014, Stryker agreed to pay $1.43 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits over its Rejuvenate and ABG II hip implants. It extended the settlement to more patients in 2016, raising the total settlement amount to somewhere between $2 billion and $2.2 billion. The average amount paid for each problematic hip implant was $600,000.

There are currently no class-action lawsuits over Stryker hip implants. The lawsuits over the LFIT V40 implants are primarily in either the multicounty litigation in New Jersey or the multidistrict litigation in Massachusetts.

MCLs and MDLs provide some of the same benefits as class-action lawsuits such as allowing people to pool their resources in court. But there are significant differences.

In July 2012, Stryker issued an Urgent Field Safety Notice about problems with its Rejuvenate and ABG II hip implants. The company warned that “fretting and/or corrosion” could lead to “metallosis, necrosis, and/or pain” for people implanted with the devices.

The company immediately withdrew both products from the market.

Stryker issued another notice for certain LFIT V40 Femoral Heads in August 2016, citing taper lock failure. The notice listed “potential hazards” that could occur with the recalled devices. These included “excessive metallic debris,” which has been associated with metallosis in other hip implants.

In another notice seven months later, the company repeated that doctors did not need to change their follow-up procedures, but suggested they be alert for possible symptoms that could mean serious complications resulting from LFIT V40 implants.

Stryker advised doctors to consider lab tests for patients already implanted with the recalled devices if they showed symptoms of possible complications.