11/03/2014
meyers flowers announce billion dollar settlement reached for patients suffering from stryker corp medical devices
One of the Largest Global Medical Device Settlements With an Unlimited Compensation Fund for Victims of Defective Hip Implant Replacements
The MDL Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel Committee Chair, Peter J. Flowers, of Meyers & Flowers, a Chicago-based law firm, reached a global settlement today for thousands of plaintiffs involved in multidistrict product liability litigation against Stryker Corporation and Howmedica Osteonics Corp. for complications involving the defective Stryker Modular Rejuvenate and ABG II Femoral Hip Implants. The settlement, one of the largest of its kind, will have an unlimited compensation fund and will potentially provide more than one billion dollars in restitution to the plaintiffs throughout the United States.
Judge Donovan Frank and Magistrate Judge Franklin Noel, who oversee the nationally coordinated Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) 13-2441, announced the global settlement between the MDL leadership representing several thousand plaintiffs in 39 states and Stryker Orthopedics and Howmedica Osteonics Corp. at approximately 3:15pm (CT) today. The settlement will apply to victims who had revision surgery to remove the defective devices regardless of whether they have filed their cases in a state or federal court.
"The Plaintiffs’ leadership in the MDL national litigation is pleased to announce that at last we have reached a settlement for our clients whose lives have been deteriorated, and in some cases destroyed, by the pain, disabilities, and revision surgeries brought on by these defective hip replacement devices," said Flowers, Chair of the Plaintiff's Lead Counsel Committee. "We have negotiated one of the largest medical device settlements with an unlimited compensation fund, that could potentially reach more than a billion dollars in restitution. Taking care of our clients in this current settlement program now gives hope to future patients at risk for revision surgeries."
Flowers has been handling cases against Stryker since 2008 when he began to receive complaints from victims suffering from issues related to the hip replacement devices, similar to the complications from the metal-on-metal friction he was dealing with in the Depuy Orthopedics of Johnson & Johnson recall lawsuit.
"For a period of about five years, the medical device industry has flooded their products on the FDA so they could make large profits and in the process has injured thousands of people," Flowers said. "We are recovering money that this company has essentially stolen from the people, the economy, the government and all injured parties."
About
The MDL Lead Counsel Committee is comprised of Peter Flowers, Ben Gordon, Genevieve Zimmerman, Annesley Degaris, Charles Zimmerman, Wendy Fleishman, and Eric Kennedy —together with the Plaintiffs Steering Committee (PSC)— remains committed not only to those who qualify for the settlement or choose to accept it, but also to the many other victims of these devices who don't qualify or choose not to participate.
For information about the Stryker MDL visit: www.stryker-mdl.com