Getting A Zimmer Durom Cup Settlement
Hundreds of people who had hip replacement surgery using a Zimmer Durom Cup implant prior to July
, 2008 are now experiencing complications that doctors never anticipated. They are having pain long after the normal recovery period, needing to have revision surgeries to take care of defective implants, incurring high medical bills, and losing wages from not being able to work. Zimmer Holdings, Inc., manufacturer of the Durom Cup, claims that their product is not defective; however, they have been offering settlements to some patients which shows they are accepting some liability.Faced with hundreds of lawsuits, Zimmer announced in October, 2008 that it had set aside $47.5 million to pay certain claims. Even so, they say that their device is not at fault. Doctors, on the other hand, aren't all convinced that no fault lies with the implant. When the Durom Cup was put back on the market in August, 2008, Zimmer also offered physicians an online training course which it claimed would teach them the precision they needed to correctly use the hip replacement device. Of the surgeons who had already done surgeries using the cups, only 50% opted to take the training in order to use the technology again. The others felt it would be a waste of time and chose not to participate. There has been a great deal of stress for everyone involved with Durom Cup surgery, especially for the hundreds of patients who are facing more problems and revision surgery.
Because of all these people have suffered, product liability lawyers have taken an interest in their cases. They have been chagrined to see many patients accepting settlements from Zimmer thinking they are fair and adequate payments. In the interest of speedy closures, people are accepting far less money in settlements than what the case is ultimately going to be worth. Zimmer is offering quick fixes to the problems people have had so far, but they haven't been addressing the fact that additional problems may cost these people thousands of dollars more as time goes on.
If you had a hip replacement surgery between 2006 and July, 2008 and are experiencing pain, you owe it to yourself to contact your surgeon and find out if a Durom Cup was used in your procedure. If you find that you were one of the recipients of this device, you may qualify to file a claim against Zimmer. You can find out for sure by calling a Johnson Law Firm hotline at 1-866-374-0338. Johnson Law Firm operates nationally and specializes in medical product litigations. In fact, realizing the scope of the Zimmer problem, the law firm has set up a special division that is devoted to taking care of claims against the manufacturer. You can contact them to represent you if you choose, or you can hire a local product liability law firm.
If you do find yourself experiencing excessive pain and mobility problems due to your recent hip implant, be sure to schedule an appointment with your doctor to have it examined. If your physician tells you that you're going to need revision surgery to correct a malfunction, contact a lawyer immediately. Your attorney will then make sure to take the necessary steps to document the entire procedure in order to build a strong case for you against Zimmer. If you just go ahead and have the surgery and then accept the settlement Zimmer offers you directly, you stand to lose thousands of dollars.
When you know for sure that you have a valid case, don't expect anything to happen too quickly. Your lawyer will want to take the time to ensure that you get everything you have coming to you. Listen to his advice, and never accept a speedy settlement directly from Zimmer. Wait until everything is resolved so that you can get all the compensation that you deserve.
by: Christopher Smith