Zimmer Holdings, Inc. is an Indiana-based medical device manufacturer that has recently come under fire for defects in their NexGen Knee Implants. When the new NexGen Flex-Knee Replacement system was introduced in 2003, two different versions of the knee implant were made available:
- A cemented version that is bonded using an adhesive
- A cementless version that is bonded through natural bone growth
When a top orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Richard Berger began to notice that several of his patients were experiencing painful loosening and improperly-fused implants, he expressed his concerns about the defective product to Zimmer. The company proceeded to blame his surgical techniques for the problems, accusing him of incorrectly installing the implants.
Berger responded by conducting a study of the cementless NexGen Knee Implant to confirm that the problems he was seeing were a general trend. He presented his results at a convention held by the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons. Out of the 108 patients Dr. Berger evaluated, he discovered that:
- 36% of the patients encountered painful loosening
- 8.3% of patients needed a second surgery to correct problems
As the average implant failure rate in the orthopedic industry is around 1%, the NexGen knee implant’s 8.3% failure rate is particularly shocking. Surgeons have urged Zimmer to remove the implant from the market so it can undergo further testing. As of today, Zimmer has not yet issued a recall of the implant.
If you have suffered complications with your Zimmer NexGen Knee Implant, you could be entitled to compensation. Please contact our experienced defective product attorneys today for a free consultation. We serve clients in Roanoke, Newport News, and Norfolk, Virginia.
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