Hip implant payout tops $50 million (Journal Gazette)
800 part of Biomet settlement
Biomet Inc. has agreed to pay a base rate of $200,000 each to patients who received a specific hip model and had to have it replaced, according to court documents.
Company officials estimated in a Securities and Exchange Commission document that the total payout could exceed $50 million.
The settlement was reached 16 months after about 1,000 lawsuits were combined in multidistrict litigation against the Warsaw-based orthopedic device-maker.
It was not a class-action suit because class actions are used only when every plaintiff is seeking the same amount in damages, attorney Tom Anapol said.
In this case, the $200,000 base settlement can be increased or decreased on a case-by-case basis, depending on circumstances.
Biomet’s M2A Magnum hip implant was one of several metal-on-metal models that were once heralded as the latest advancements in joint replacements. Competing manufacturers, including DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. and Zimmer Inc., also sold them. Artificial hip joints can also be made of plastic or ceramic.
Because metal parts rub against each other during normal wear, some patients have experien...
