Lawsuits Filed for Faulty Durom Cups

By Maxwell Schmickman

In 2006 Zimmer Durom Cup Hip Implants were approved for use in the United States. Within less than 2 years, more than 12,000 patients were functioning using a Durom Cup as a replacement device for a defective hip joint. Although these implants had been used for 3 years in Europe prior to being approved in the U.S. and had exhibited a high rate of success, in the U.S. patients started developing problems, some almost immediately after surgery. Their doctors, looking for reasons why the implants failed, decided that the Durom Cup was a defective device.

Most states within the U.S. have laws designed to help patients who incur pain and suffering caused by defects in prosthetic devices. Per these laws, patients are entitled to compensation for their pain, medical expenses, and lost wages if it can be proven that a defective implant was to blame for their problems. Although Zimmer still stands fully behind its device based on its track record in Europe, it voluntarily pulled the product from the American market in July, 2008 in order to develop better training methods for doctors who insert the implants.

By using Google to search the Internet for "Zimmer Durom Cup Lawsuits" you can find many websites of attorneys who feel that patients have a case against Zimmer and offer to help them file lawsuits. The number of implant failures continues to grow, and these attorneys who have taken it upon themselves to become involved truly believe that Zimmer is at fault. Physicians tend to agree and estimate that hundreds of the devices will fail within the next few years.

Doctors who have done further surgery to determine the cause of patient discomfort have found that the cups have loosened over time to the point where they just pop from the sockets at the slightest touch. Other patients have devices which have actually migrated a short distance in their bodies so they are no longer located exactly where they should be. Although Zimmer contends that the rate of failure of the Durom Cup is quite low, physicians believe that hundreds of them will fail and need revision within the next few years.

Stockholders in Zimmer stocks feel that the company did not pull the product from the market quickly enough causing additional problems for patients. With this feeling in mind, stockholders filed a class action lawsuit in Indiana seeking damages for those who invested in company stocks between January and July, 2008. These stockholders and their attorneys believe that Zimmer should have suspended sales before January 22, 2008 when a large number of problems began to surface.

Although Zimmer still contends that their product is not at fault in causing these problems, citing instead the failure of physicians to be properly trained in the correct methods of implanting them, they announced in October, 2008 that they had set aside $47.5 million to pay claims from the resulting lawsuits. This came after July numbers showed that the failure rate of the Durom Cup could be as high as 5.7%. Per the company the money they have earmarked for claim payment will be used for "revisions associated with surgeries that predate the company's voluntary suspension and which also occur within two years of the original surgery date.