What Are the Safety Concerns Surrounding the V40?
The Stryker V40 Femoral Head is an interchangeable part used in various types of hip replacements. The head is made of metal and screws onto a metal femoral neck forming the taper lock portion of the artificial hip. In the past, hip device manufacturers have faced lawsuits over metal-on-metal hip device failure and the V40 now follows suit in that trend.
Concern surrounding the safety of Stryker V40 Femoral Heads continues to grow on a worldwide scale:
8/24/2016 Health Canada Recall
“Stryker has received higher than expected complaints of taper lock failure for specific lots of certain sizes of LFIT Anatomic COCR V40TM Femoral Heads manufactured prior to 2011.”
9/27/2016 Safety Alert Issued in Australia
“Stryker Orthopaedic has written to orthopaedic surgeons who have implanted affected LFIT Anatomic CoCr V40 femoral heads to provide further information about this issue.”
How Does the Stryker V40 Femoral Head Work?
The V40 itself is one component of a taper lock system. When doctors perform hip replacement surgeries it is often difficult to tell what size components will be needed until surgery is underway, therefore it can be helpful to have an interchangeable component available in various sizes, such as the V40 femoral head, during an operation. Once the appropriate size is determined, the metal V40 is screwed onto a metal femoral neck, acting as the end of the femur bone free to move and rotate within the hip socket.
Where Is the Device Failing?
In the past, metal-on-metal hip implant failure has occurred when the metal surfaces of the femoral head and acetabular cup rub against one another. However, in the case of the Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II recall, the failure occurred in the stem-neck interface. With the Stryker V40 femoral head, the problem occurs between the metal head and metal neck. According to the Australian safety alert, “[t]he increased incidence of taper lock failures relates to possible taper lock interface inconsistency.” When the metal materials react with one another, the device components begin to corrode, leading to taper lock failure. When corrosion occurs, metallic ions are released into the patient’s bloodstream, chances for infection of soft tissue greatly increases, and the device can eventually dissociate (dislocate) altogether. This failure can require removal of the head and stem device parts. This is, unfortunately, a very invasive procedure.
What Are the Injuries?
Injuries from the Stryker V40 Femoral Head include:
Metallosis
Infection and necrosis
Dissociation
Need for revision surgery
The Status of the Litigation
Due to increasing reports of failure associated with the Stryker V40 head, Stryker recalled several models of the V40 metal product. Many injured parties have filed lawsuits to hold Stryker accountable for their injuries.
On February 1, 2018, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) consolidated federal court claims stemming from the failure of the Stryker V40 metal head into a multidistrict litigation. The JPML coordinated these proceedings in Massachusetts before Judge Indira Talwani.
This litigation is ongoing where discovery is underway. Goldenberg Lauricella represents injured victims of the Stryker V40 metal head.
With Goldenberg Lauricella, You’re More Than a Number
If you have suffered any of the above injuries as a result of your Stryker V40 Femoral Head hip replacement component you have the right to seek compensation. Your consultation is free and you pay nothing unless our firm recovers for you and your family.
Manufacturers of medical devices have a legal duty to make products that are reasonably safe. For over 30 years, Goldenberg Lauricella has successfully represented thousands of injured people around the country in defective drug and device cases against some of the world’s largest corporations. We have the national experience, the resources and the desire to hold these companies accountable for their actions. We will fight for you to obtain fair compensation for your, pain, disability, medical bills, wage loss and the terrible effect this has had on the quality of your life.