MDL Initial Organization Conference To Take Place Next Week For Wright Medical’s Conserve Hip Implant System
On April 23, 2012, Judge William S. Duffey, Jr., will host a joint Initial Organization Conference in the Northern District of Georgia, in Atlanta, with respect to the latest metal-on-metal hip implant multidistrict litigation (MDL), In Re: Wright Medical Technology, Inc., Conserve Hip Implant System Products Liability Litigation. On February 27, 2012, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) ordered the transfer and consolidation of Wright Medical Technology’s Conserve Hip Implant System, a metal-on-metal hip replacement.
Conference Agenda
On the agenda for the Wright Medical Conserve Hip Implant System Initial Organization Conference, the parties and the Court will discuss dates for direct filing of lawsuits, amending pleadings, dates for filing motions, discovery, a proposed case management order, and other procedures. Also on the agenda for the Wright Medical Conserve Hip Implant System MDL Initial Organization Conference will be the selection of Lead and Liaison Counsel. Of the 30 plus cases pending in this most recently formed metal-on-metal MDL, the Wright Medical Conserve Hip Implant System Products Liability Litigation, Pope McGlamry has been a unanimous selection to serve as lead and liaison counsel in the Wright Medical Conserve Hip Implant System Products Liability MDL in the Northern District of Georgia.
Wright Conserve Failure
The Wright Medical Conserve Cup features a similar design to DePuy Orthopaedics’ ASR Cup, which was recalled in August 2010 after medical data suggested that a higher-than-expected number of people had their artificial hip fail within a few years resulting in revision surgery.
All of the Wright complaints allege that Wright Medical manufactured a defective metal-on-metal hip implant, known as the Conserve Plus, and failed to warn patients about the potential risk that the device may fail within a few years of surgery causing serious medical problems and the need of revision surgery. Plaintiffs say that the Conserve acetabular cup has a tendency to loosen and fail as metal particles are shed into the body from the metal parts of Wright Medical’s Conserve Hip Implant System rubbing against each other.
The Wright Conserve Hip Implant System is a metal-on-metal design, which consists of cast cobalt chromium molybdenum that provides the receptacle for the cobalt chromium molybdenum femoral head. The metal femoral head rotates within the metal monoblock Conserve Cup, which does not have a liner, resulting in the release of metal particles that can cause metal toxicity in the blood, soft tissue and bone. This can result in metallosis, tissue necrosis, pseudotumors and other problems, according to the complaints.
Controversial FDA Approval
Since the FDA approved Wright Medical’s Conserve Cup metal-on-metal hip replacement system under their controversial 510(k) approval system, more than 200 adverse event reports have been submitted by patients or physicians, which likely only represent a fraction of the total number of problems with Wright Medical hip replacements. In May 2011, the FDA asked Wright Medical and other metal-on-metal hip makers such as DePuy, Stryker and Zimmer, to obtain more information about the level at which the metal particles released by hip replacements becomes dangerous, how much metal they actually release and to quantify the potential side effects of metallosis.
Contact Pope McGlamry
If you or a loved one had a Wright Conserve Hip System implanted and have suffered complications, or experienced a hip replacement failure requiring revision surgery, you may be entitled to recover significant damages from the defective product manufacturer, Wright Medical. Contact Pope McGlamry today to learn more.
