What is the Base Award and are there any Potential Reductions?

The Stryker Rejuvenate and ABGII recall left thousands of patients injured, wondering just how they would pay their medical bills or make up for lost wages. Facing nearly 4,000 lawsuits to date, the company recently announced a Stryker hip settlement. There are specific stipulations attached to the settlement, in particular that 95% of eligible plaintiffs must enroll in the agreement or Stryker has the right to void the agreement. The Stryker hip settlement base award is $300,000, to qualified claimants, with additional payments to those who suffered specific complications due to the failure of the device as well as deductions when certain factors are present. ­

Eligibility for the Stryker Master Settlement Agreement

To be eligible for the settlement, patients must have been implanted with a Stryker ABGII or Rejuvenate Modular hip stem and must have undergone revision surgery to remove both the hip stem and neck. Further, the removal of the stem and neck must have occurred more than 180 days after implantation, but prior to November 3, 2014. Both the implantation and revision must have taken place in the United States or in a U.S. military hospital, and the revision surgery must have been due to elevated cobalt levels, an abnormal diagnostic scan or findings of tissue damage. The revision surgery must not have been only the result of recurrent dislocation, infection or trauma, such as a fall. Finally, revision surgery must not have been undertaken because the device broke.

Stryker Hip Settlement Potential Reductions from Base Amount

The Stryker hip settlement base award is $300,000, or $600,000 for a bilateral revised implant, and the Stryker hip settlement potential reductions include the following:

·         Patients whose Stryker ABGII or Rejuvenate implant replaced a pre-existing hip implant will see a 15% deduction in the base amount of $300,000.

·         Age deductions to the Stryker hip settlement base award are as follows: Those who are seventy years old or older will see a 5% deduction, those who are seventy-five years old or older will see a 10% deduction, patients who are eighty years old or older will see a 15% deduction, and those patients eighty-five years or older will have 20% deducted from the base amount.

·         Patients who are obese, who smoke or who have other factors which would generally reduce the amount of the settlement will have no reduction in the base amount.

·         Patients who initially meet the criteria for qualified Stryker revision surgery, but who pass away prior to the enrollment date of January 16, 2015, will have the base amount reduced by 30%.

·         Patients who have not undergone revision surgery because they were too medically infirm to undergo the surgical procedure will be eligible to receive $75,000.