Stryker 26 articles

Profits for Stryker, a medical device manufacturing giant, have taken a 2.3 percent cut year-over-year when projections had predicted they’d be up by 14.1 percent. This is likely due to the number of lawsuits regarding the company’s Rejuvenate or ABG II modular metal-on-metal neck hip stems. Information about the earnings came about a month after Stryker announced that Howmedica Osteonics, its subsidiary, had reached a settlement with patients who required revision surgery to correct problems with their new Rejuvenate or ABG II metal-on-metal hips. The metal-on-metal hip implant designs, made by a number of medical device manufacturers such as Wright Medical, DePuy Orthopaedics and its parent company Johnson & Johnson; Smith & Nephew, and Zimmer Biomet ... Read More

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel of medical device experts convened recently, advising against metal-on-metal hip implants, just short of banning the device altogether. The panel also advised that any patients who have received the devices should be evaluated with an X-ray and blood tests, particularly if they are experiencing pain or other symptoms that might indicate device failure. In particular, blood tests would allow detection of metal in the bloodstream, which could result in metallosis, a dangerous condition of metal poisoning in the blood. The metal-on-metal hip designs, made by a number of medical device manufacturers such as Wright Medical, ... Read More

When Robert Peters wrote the Daily Mail for advice from Dr. Scurr about concerns with his metal-on-metal hip implants, the response seemed to only confirm his greatest fears – that his hip implants could be poisoning him. Peters’ blood was tested after his surgeon informed him of the recent reports of metal-on-metal hip failures. “Blood tests revealed I have 100 times more than normal the amount of cobalt in my blood,” Peters wrote, “as well as dangerous amounts of chromium.” Dr. Scurr explained that metal-on-metal hips are usually made of a stainless steel alloy containing cobalt and chromium, and were intended to ... Read More

On Nov. 3, 2016 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the 14th Report on Carcinogens (RoC) that includes cobalt and cobalt compounds on its list of cancer-causing substances. The RoC is a public health document that is science-based and congressionally mandated, describing 248 listings of agents, substances, mixtures, and exposure circumstances that are known and confirmed carcinogens. The report advises that “intracellular release of cobalt ions from particles” is a key event related to toxicity and carcinogenicity, as seen the cases of metal-on-metal hip implant failure. Metal-on-metal hip implants are made primarily of cobalt and chromium alloy. Patients who have received this ... Read More

Metal-on-metal hips are primarily made of cobalt and chromium. When these components rub together with normal use, the parts wear down and corrode, causing metal to leach into the surrounding tissues and bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, the metal content can cause metal poisoning called metallosis. Side effects may include implant failure, necrosis (tissue and bone death), and organ damage. These side effects may require revision surgery to treat. Pseudo tumors are also a side effect of the metal poisoning. The tumors are soft tissue changes in the surrounding tissues and bone of the hip prosthetic. According to a study published June 2015, ... Read More

John Haldane was 68 when he received a new hip, a metal-on-metal design that he was told would last two decades. Three years later, the hip had to be removed, leaving him permanently crippled. “I’m disabled and this should not have happened,” Haldane said. “I just want the company which made the implants to take responsibility.” Now, 88 people who allege they were permanently injured by metal-on-metal hip implants are seeking compensation for the agony and problems they say they experienced from their new prosthetic. Their ages range from 30s to 80s, and each claim their lives have been ruined by the faulty device. They’re ... Read More

A fall at work in the ’90s caused Australian native Lianne Slinger an injury that led to a total hip replacement in 1999. She received a Sulzer metal-on-metal hip, which has now been recalled. Shortly after, she began experiencing a series of health problems from metal poisoning linked to her hip. Metal-on-metal hip components are made of cobalt and chromium, which, upon corrosion and wear-down, can flake metal particles into the body and cause metallosis. Metallosis is a type of metal poisoning that is a resulting side effect of joint replacing devices such as metal-on-metal hip implants. The symptoms include implant failure, necrosis ... Read More

Andrew Archer, an attorney at a top law firm in Melbourne, was 41 when he had hip replacement surgery in 2008. He received a Mitch Stryker THR, a metal-on-metal design that he says gave him “nothing but pain from the word go.” In the six years following the hip replacement surgery, Archer underwent four additional operations that did little to ease his pain. “My wife said it was like living with a different person,” Archer said, “and we’ve been together 20 years. From 2000 to 2005 I worked in a top-tier law firm at full pelt – almost four years without a decent ... Read More

Metal-on-metal hip implants have been a health concern ever since patients began coming forward with reports of complications from their new hips. In an article published by BBC News, patients who have received a metal-on-metal hip implant need lifelong blood checks for cobalt and chromium levels. Manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip implants, such as DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson,  Smith & Nephew, Wright Medical, Zimmer Biomet Holdings and Stryker are facing lawsuits alleging the devices resulted in problems including loosening, bone erosion, damage to surrounding tissue as well as metallosis, a dangerous blood condition that occurs when metal bits flake off the device and make their way into the bloodstream. The metal-on-metal ... Read More

Dr. Steve Tower specializes in hip, knee and shoulder surgery as well as general orthopedics and trauma care. In 2006, Tower had hip replacement surgery and received a metal-on-metal hip implant design made of chrome cobalt. A year after the hip was replaced, he began experiencing pain. Having replaced “about a thousand” hips in patients himself, Tower knew this was not the norm. Remembering that the hip was made of cobalt, he decided to have his blood levels checked. He found the cobalt levels in his blood to be extremely high. Three years after replacement, the hip became so painful that revision ... Read More