Stryker Rejuvenate Settlement to Proceed to Payment

The New Jersey Stryker Plaintiff Steering Committee and Settlement Oversight Committee are pleased to report 95% of the eligible claimants have enrolled in the settlement as reflected in the attached official letters from Stryker. The initial payments to several thousand individuals are expected later this summer. Since the settlement was only open to individuals revised though most of 2014, The PSC will continue to advocate for plaintiffs who had revision surgeries thereafter, and we hope to create a consistent settlement program for the later revised recipients of the Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II hip implants. Now that the first settlement is absolutely proceeding, the prospects for an extension of the settlement program are bright.

Notice to Counsel re settlement Program Proceeding

ABGII_Rejuvenate – Notice to Judges re Settlement Program Proceeding

Global Resolution Reached in Lawsuits over Stryker Rejuvenate/ABG II Failed Modular Hips

Hackensack, New Jersey, Nov. 3, 2014 — On November 3, 2014, a global settlement program involving Stryker’s Rejuvenate and ABGII modular hip implants was executed before and announced by Superior Court Judge Brian R. Martinotti in Bergen County, New Jersey. The settlement was finalized after four months of negotiations before retired United States Magistrate Judge Diane Welsh of JAMS in Philadelphia. Stryker and plaintiffs’ counsel appointed by Judge Martinotti – Ellen Relkin of Weitz & Luxenberg, NYC; Cal Warriner of Searcy Denney, West Palm Beach, FL; Thomas R. Anapol of Anapol Schwartz, Philadelphia; and Tara Sutton of Minneapolis-based Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi L.L.P– reached agreement on behalf of an estimated 3000 patients who were implanted with the modular Rejuvenate or ABGII implants and have undergone a revision surgery. Counsel from the parallel federal Multi-District Litigation proceedings in Minnesota subsequently joined the negotiations and are signatories to the Agreement. Tobias Millrood and David Buchanan, the other members of the NJ PSC, played key roles advancing the discovery and bellwether trial process serving as a catalyst to the settlement.

The settlement provides for gross base awards of $300,000 per failed implant and provides for significant additional compensation for claimants who suffered complications during revision surgery and for other damages, including future surgeries caused by complications. The settlement also provides compensation for individuals who need a revision but are medically unable to undergo the surgery. There is no overall cap or fixed fund for Stryker’s liability under this settlement program, and the settlement payments are expected to exceed $1 billion. Claimants will begin receiving their awards the summer of 2015.

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