Zimmer Hip Replacement Settlement Offers

Austin Kirk

By Austin Kirk
Posted August 25, 2008

ADD YOUR COMMENTS 23

Hundreds of people throughout the United States have experienced problems following hip replacement surgery where a Zimmer Durom Cup was implanted. The lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. have been reviewing potential Zimmer hip replacement lawsuits for individuals who have experienced a loosening of the cup or required additional hip revision surgeries.

Last month, Zimmer announced that they were halting sales of the Durom Cup hip implant due to a large number of problems reported. This decision came months after doctors first reported that the Zimmer Durom Cups were failing and often required revisions. For months, Zimmer has been making statements that attempt to shift the blame for the Durom Cup problems onto doctors, and they have refused to take any responsibility.

However, recently some of the individuals who have contacted our Zimmer Durom Cup lawyers to review a potential hip replacement lawsuit, report that indirect indications are being made by doctors and Zimmer sales representatives, that Zimmer may now be considering offers of compensation for those who required revision surgery. These indirect suggestions of an intention to offer compensation, appear to be simply an attempt to delay victims from obtaining a lawyer.

Our product liability lawyers have seen tactics like this employed in the past by manufacturers who sold a defective device. In most cases, as we saw with the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Leads last year, direct pre-lawyer settlement offers only provide a small fraction of the actual cost of the surgery their device required and provide no compensation for what the patient was put through. In other cases, the offers are never actually made, and the “overtures” of settlement are only suggested to discourage people from properly investigating and documenting their claim.

In prior orthopedic implant cases, settlement offers have been made by the manufacturer to cover portions of the medical costs associated with the defective devices. However, in our experience, these offers do not fairly compensate for what the patient was put through and are usually only a small fraction of the true value of a case.

ZIMMER DUROM CUP LAWYERS

If Zimmer wanted to do the right thing from the beginning, they would have accepted responsibility for the failures of their Durom Cup hip implants and already would have covered the full cost of subsequent revisions and hip replacement surgeries that people have had to go through. Instead they decided to continuing selling the defective Durom Cups for months with inadequate warnings and instructions for doctors.

If you, a friend or family member have experienced problems after a hip replacement surgery where you suspect the Zimmer Durom Cup may have been used, free consultations are available to help determine if financial compensation may be available. To have a potential case reviewed by our Zimmer Durom lawyers, request a free consultation and claim evaluation.

23 Comments • Add Your Comments

  • Amartha says:

    I went to India for my hip replacement surgery. Actually it was not because of the money but endless wait that I had to do for my surgery at Charlottetown. I decided to do my surgery in India. I contacted a medical tourism company and they were great. They helped me with everything. The standard of healthcare in India is much better than Canada and if you are suffering due to long wait time it is better to go there.

    Posted on August 25, 2008 at 1:36 pm

  • bob says:

    Can you explain what this is all about ….My hip was replaced in 1/07 with a Zimmer hip ….I have no problem…What’s your problem?????

    Perhaps it with the doctor & not the replacement…Duh

    Posted on September 5, 2008 at 10:32 pm

  • Mario says:

    If you had a problem with it, your mobility would have decreased over time. Pain grows as you do repetitive movements like walking. I could walk miles just two months after the initial surgery. Twelve months after I can barely walk around my block, and the pain will extend for the rest of the day. Almost like the one I had from my coxarthrosis. Sounds like a Durom problem.

    Problem is, what are they doing during the revision surgery? Is the replacement cup the same as the bad one? If the bone did not mend to the first one, why would it mend properly to the next one if it’s the same design?

    Posted on October 16, 2009 at 2:32 pm

  • Aaron says:

    I have had a Zimmer Durom Cup since May 2008 and have had nothing but pain and troubles since then. My mobility is steadily decreasing over time. The doctor’s I am currently seeing to try to find out what is wrong have no idea what to do because the cup “appears” OK on x-ray. All I know it that the last two years have been, and still are, a living hell.

    As for what part is used during replacement…of course they don’t put another Durom implant in. The most common approach is to go back to the old plastic lined cup that lasts a shorter time but has more implant history behind it. Either way…it is a nightmare to go through another replacement surgery because Zimmer needed to make a little extra profit.

    My biggest frustration with all of this is that I am no longer in a position financially to get the part replaced…and lawyers have told me there is nothing they can do until “the part is in their hands”. CRAZY if you ask me…the suffering implant recipient.

    Posted on January 21, 2010 at 10:50 pm

  • Tina says:

    I had my hip. Done. However the doctor. That did it no longr work. So I don’t know if this is what I have but I do know the pain is worse than before

    Posted on July 25, 2010 at 6:08 pm

  • Rick says:

    I had one. PAIN with every step. I got VERY lucky. I was told by my 1st Ortho Dr. that the pain was “in my head” he said “maybe you need “other” help…. tapped his temple with his index finger. after months of fear and gradual acceptance…. I had been working out and rehabing for over a year. And then I went to the “County clinic.” I lost my job and insurance over the pain. I wasn’t able to return to work and the let me go right before Longterm disabilitry could kick in…so the free clinic Phsyc Dr. gives me Anti- deprtesants. I calm down, and start looking at my medical records.( I collected them cause I was in pain, got not help from Ortho Dr. #1 and was going to the VA. I was turned down by VA, long story, but while on the Anti-D, I was clear enough to see Zimmr Durhom. in the Part Log I got from the Hospitol. I remembered seeing commercials RIGHT AFTER MY OPERATION from Lawyers about “if you’ve had a Zimmer Durhom hip implanted and have continued pain, call us..” I was so drugged out after the operation…. it was in July of 08… July 7, 2008…. on July 22, 2008, Zimmer pulled it off the market. Anyway, the Free clinic, had an ortho Dr. An expert as it turns out. He replaced my hip, NO PAIN. I am 19 days post op, almost off pain meds from surgery pain. NO hip PAIN. The pain was like three circular razors cutting into my pelvis. Check out the Free clinic. Be carefull, check out the Dr. who might be willing to operate, but my guy saw my simptoms and said, “your hip is failed” , “you need a new hip. we can see if there is anything wrong once we gt the old one out.” he had NO interest in the legal aspect. After surgery, he had obviously done a bit of research, he doesn’t use ZD part. After operation, he came by hosp. bed and asked if I would contact Zimmer, he heard zimmer was aying to have these replaced…..;-) no bone ingrowth in back of the cup. poped out after the “lip bone growth” was chipped. Ask, you never know, someone might do it for free. and if it is the Durhom cup issue, you will have assets to pay later.

    Posted on July 31, 2010 at 4:15 pm

  • bonnie says:

    I had thezimmer hip replacement in dec, 2008 and i have had problems. it feels like my hip is about to pop out of place

    Posted on August 30, 2010 at 6:34 am

  • robert says:

    I had the zimmer durom cup replacement surgery in May 2008. I was told that because of my age (38) that this was the best option for me because of the longevity of the implant. I have had nothing but problems with this implant. I lost my job of 15 years because I could not take the pain of working on my feet every day. The burning sensation that shoots down the side of my leg is almost unbareable. Then at night I get a throbbing pain that makes it hard to sleep. Sometimes I can feel it pop out of place and that’s a whole new level of pain. When I complained to my doctor his only response was “well it looks good on the x-ray”. My friends and family think I’m depressed because I never leave the house but really I’m just tired of being in pain all the time. It doesn’t matter what I do the pain is always their. I’m thinking I did something wrong during rehab to be causing me these problems.
    Then I find out from a commercial that their has been a problem with these implants and I was very upset. You at least get a letter from a car dealer when something gets recalled! And then to find out the company was warned by Dr. Dorr that his patients were having problems in April 2008, but yet Zimmer continued to sell the implants untill July 2008. Then they claim no responsibility for this mess and blaime the Dr’s. It’s unbelievable to me that a company
    can get away with causing so many people so much pain.
    Now I’m 40 and not sure about what steps to take. The thought of me or anybody else having to go through this surgery again is crazy. The bottom line is this company was negligent
    in the fact of hiding their own failure rates with
    this implant for the sole purpose to increase
    their profits and dollars per share. Meanwhile
    their patients suffer so they can make a quick
    Buck!

    Yours turely prisoner at home!

    Posted on October 20, 2010 at 1:06 am

  • Albert says:

    I have a zimmer hip replacment done in about 2005 and then the left hip done in 2010 ..I seem to be pain free but last month while bending ove the one done in 2005 popped out while i was in the shed ,,i had terrible pain ..the worst ever and was helpless on the floor ..i could not move ..was able to call 911 and get an ambulance to take me to the hopital where it was put in..after several tries the doc was able to get it back in..Now every time i have to bent i am afraid of it coming out again ..How often does this happen?

    Posted on December 19, 2010 at 8:55 am

  • Josay says:

    I had a full right hip replacement in August 2008 and have been living with pain since. I had a Zimmer Femur APR2 Size 13.5 Stem. I was 49 when I had it replaced and I remember my surgeon awesome Surgeon say What are you waiting for you are still young get it done” I was living Hawaii and did my research and got the best surgeon in Honolulu as I was living in Maui. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO

    Posted on January 19, 2011 at 5:14 am

  • Gerald says:

    I had my right hip replaced with a Zimmer implant and cup in May 2008. Since that time I have had weekly pain with that implant and misalignment. The right leg seems to be longer than the left and at times also causes me to lose my balance. The cold weather does have an adverse affect on my gait as well. My surgeon, Dr. Vincent Cannestra’s office, has told me that none of the doctor’s implants have been recalled. They did tell me that I had a Zimmer Tantalum Metal Acetabular 54mm device implanted, but would not tell me more. The pain does get bad especially when I have been walking on unstable ground (snow or ice).

    Posted on January 21, 2011 at 7:27 pm

  • Vanessa says:

    I am not sure if I should trust this product Zimmerman. I am getting ready to have a discussion with a doctor who uses this product and he stated that he has not had any problems from his patients who had hip-replacement after surgery.
    I do not want to be all messed-up after one time surgery and then have to go back once more to have it all done again and making sure that the manufacturer’s are living up to their word about the safety and well care of such product. You are talking about major surgery with a piece of mental in your body that can be defective and not a good source of materiial to use in human bodies. WOW

    Posted on March 17, 2011 at 7:59 pm

  • Vanessa says:

    I just want to recheck with this manfacturer that the product being use is not faulty or defected by any ways. I am getting ready to have hip-replacement done and the doctor I may let do my surgery does use the Zimmerman product. I was told that the product was calling-back on the knee surgery and not hip-replacement surgery material.

    Posted on March 17, 2011 at 8:03 pm

  • Derral says:

    My hip was replaced in November 2008, long after the recall was sent. I have had nothing but pain since then and the last three months the pain has increased greatly. I saw another ortho doctor yesterday and was told I needed to have hip revision surgery. Needless to say, I am not a happy camper with Zimmer or the surgeon who performed my initial surgery.

    Posted on August 26, 2011 at 6:22 pm

  • Linda says:

    My mother in Nov. 08 had a zimmer hip replacement and has always been in pain and it is worse. She can barely walk with a walker now and it hurts constantly. She is less mobile than before the surgery.

    Posted on September 6, 2011 at 3:28 am

  • Brandy says:

    I have had a Zimmer trilogy hip replacement done July 9, 2010 ever since I have had nothing but pain. I’m on stronger pain meds now then what I was on before the surgery. The pain seems to be getting worse and the strength in my leg is just getting worse and not better. The dr. that I go to for my pain management says that he suggests that I start using a cane now cause its not going to get any better. The main reason I went to have this surgery is to get better not get worse but I guess that didn’t happen. I just want to know if there is something I can do or get compensated for the pain and suffering that has been caused?

    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 3:38 am

  • Todd says:

    I had the trilogy hip replacement, left in 2008 and right in 2009. This has been the worst mistake in my life. The pain will not go away and Dr. Tells me that there is nothing that can be done. I am a 48 year old man that can’t even walk a block after the replacements. I had a little pain before the left replacement and no pain prior to the right replacement.
    These were replaced due to AVN. Something should be done but it seems as though the focus is only on the recalled hips. This pain is not normal and now I have had to file disability at 48 due to the pain I live with. Please help the people with the Zimmer Trilogy as it seems to be just as bad if not more than the recalls.

    Posted on April 8, 2012 at 8:59 am

  • Gary says:

    Hi There.. I had a zimmer trilogy cup and liner hip replacement in UK in 2004. I am now in a wheelchair and have been in pain ever since. It is crushing my groin and I am on low dose morphine 2wice per day and a nerve suppresant medication to stop all the shocking type electric pains in all my joints. Apart from just the hip pain I have experienced all other problems since within 6 months of the surgery. I am now having help from 3rd party professional to secure an explanation for dodgy hip replacement. I have been told by a UK solicitor that they have been approached by 40 people with unsuccessful painful ZIMMER TRILOGY hip replacements… Hang in there everyone try to be positive it will all out in the end. There is too many of us appearing and complaining. I have fully recorded my complaints with the orthopaedics in the UK It’s 7 years of documentation. Best wishes Gary uk

    Posted on June 21, 2012 at 3:37 pm

  • EJ says:

    I had a revision done and the swelling is still the same. The Pain is still there and they had to put 3 screws in the cup to hold it in place. the other one did some much damage from moving around they stated it might never graffe into the bone. I still have limited mobility can not sit for long periods of time. Still can not walk for any distance. In all I am just going through life when before I enjoyed it. This device has talk my Life as it was away. to all that is going through the same things I hope life has a better turn for you.

    Posted on November 25, 2012 at 7:06 pm

  • SUZANNE says:

    I had a trilogy revision in April 2006. Several months ago I was found to have a crack in the head component. I was told a revision would be the only option for me, and that too can create a whole new set of problems. I too have been told to see a psychitrist and start to use a cane. this should really be helpful since I work as a nurse. I’m sorry and can relate to all of these postings. Hopefullt things will be better.

    Posted on June 18, 2013 at 3:25 pm

  • REGINALD says:

    HI I HAVE TWO HIPS REPLACEMENT MY HIP IS STICKING OUT OF MY SKIN WHEN I WALK IT HURT REAL BAD IT BE POPING

    Posted on November 25, 2013 at 1:33 pm

  • james says:

    I had my right hip and about six mo it tore up had to go back and have it done all over , after the surgery a came down with gullian barra and I have not walk in four years I have been in a wheel chair for five years in hospital ten times and rest homed four times .

    Posted on February 15, 2014 at 10:12 pm

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