Zimmer has won the previous two trials, and many are waiting to see how this third trial will go, as there are some 400 such defective product lawsuits pending in New Jersey and 25 in Los Angeles. In one of the earlier trials in St. Clair County, Illinois, Zimmer successfully argued that the plaintiff’s infection was the cause of the implant’s failure, he said. In the other, a jury in US District Court for New Jersey threw out the case based on the statute of limitations, not the merits. In this most recent case, there is no statute of limitations and the plaintiff did not develop an infection.
Fifty-nine year old plaintiff Gary Kline, is “still dealing with the lingering effects of having two traumatic surgeries in the span of 15 months and scar tissue and muscle damage that goes along with that,” lawyers for the plaintiff said.
Zimmer is one of several hip implant manufacturers which has faced defective product lawsuits in recent years. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, and Stryker Corp both reached settlements, of $2.5 billion and more than $1 billion, respectively.
About 13,000 patients received Zimmer Durom Cup implants before its withdrawal from the US market in 2008.
