Health News Florida
11:20 am
Mon January 28, 2013

Lawsuits Claim Artificial Hips Poisoned Patients

Credit Palm Beach Post
Dianne Pinge is suing the maker of her hip implant.

Metal-on-metal hip replacements like the Stryker Rejuvenate were supposed to be the “latest and greatest” for active baby boomers, the Palm Beach Post reports. Instead, lawsuits show how they’re turning into a nightmare for some patients.

One of those patients is 66-year-old Dianne Pinge. Her lawsuit says the device has corroded, leaving the once-active Boca Raton woman hardly able to walk to the mailbox. She’s had five hip surgeries, and she still has to go back for one more next month.

She’s not the only patient tortured by faulty devices that use metal-on-metal balls and sockets or metal-on-metal stems and neck. The law firm representing her added 300 cases after taking her case, the Post reports.

Shortly after warning surgeons that type of implant could corrode, Stryker began a recall of the product.

About 1 million people get a hip replacement each year in the U.S.