December 26, 2015 - Thousands of patients were harmed by the Stryker Rejuvenate and ABGII recall, which was issued in July 2012, after as many as 20,000 of the devices had been sold. Following the recall, lawsuits began being filed against Stryker until there were more than 4,000. After settling 17 of those lawsuits in late 2013 and early 2014, Stryker finally decided to settle the majority of the cases. Under the agreement, those patients who had undergone Stryker ABGII revision surgery or Stryker Rejuvenate revision surgery and met all eligibility requirements would receive a settlement.
Particulars of the Stryker Hip Settlement
The Stryker hip settlement agreement offers a base award of $300,000 to any claimant who meets all the eligibility requirements. This base award is subject to certain enhancements, caps and reductions. The primary reductions apply to age; those who are over the age of 70 will have their base award reduced by 5 percent, those over 75 will have the base award reduced by 10 percent, those over 80 will have the base award reduced by 15 percent and those over 85 will have the base award reduced by 20 percent. There are also certain other reductions, namely a 10 percent reduction of certain enhancements when the claimant had a BMI of 40 or greater at the time of the revision surgery, or a 15 percent reduction when the claimant had a BMI of 50 or greater at the time of the revision surgery.
What if You are an Unrevised Claimant?
As you can see, there are many factors associated with the Stryker hip settlement, and if you are one of the plaintiffs who has not undergone revision surgery, you may wonder whether you are left without options should you develop adverse Stryker symptoms in the future. In fact, in April 2015, the judge in the MDL Stryker case ruled that those who had not yet had revision surgery (but had a case on file) would be allowed to have the statutes of limitations suspended, meaning if they have revision surgery in the future, they may still be able to fall under the Stryker hip settlement.
Because of the high Stryker hip failure rates, speaking to a well-qualified Stryker hip lawyer could be beneficial. Your attorney can assist you in exploring all your options and can help to protect your rights under the Stryker hip settlement. You may have also received a Stryker hip Broadspire letter, which, if you choose to sign without consulting a legal professional, could take away many of your rights to collect damages for your Stryker hip injuries.
If you had case pending against Stryker, but did not undergo revision surgery, your case likely remained pending until November 3, 2015, and then may have been dismissed without prejudice. If this is what happened to you, then from that point on, the applicable statutes of limitations would most likely toll from the date you received your Stryker hip implant, or until June 30, 2017, whichever date comes first. Because the many rules associated with the Stryker hip settlement can be extremely complex, speaking to a Stryker hip attorney can be beneficial.