Exactech Connexion GXL Liner Lawsuit Filed After Hip Replacement Failed After Only Four Years

Although a hip replacement is expected to last about twenty years, a New York woman has filed a product liability lawsuit against Exactech, alleging that a Connexion GXL Liner used with her implant failed after only four years, resulting in the need for additional surgery to remove the components.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Susan Schrott and her husband, Jonathan, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on December 15, indicating that defective components were used during her total hip replacement procedure, which were packaged in “non-conforming” bags that exposed the plastic liners to oxygen before they were implanted in her body.

Exactech Connexion GXL liners were used with more than 130,000 hip replacement systems distributed since 2004, which have been linke to high failure and revision rates, due to a propensity for early polyethylene wear, component loosening and other complications.

Problems with the components gained widespread attention when a massive Exactech recall was announced in February 2022, not only impacting hip replacements, but also more than 140,000 Optetrak, Optetrak Logic and Truliant knee replacement systems and 1,500 Exactech Vantage ankle replacements.

As individuals learn that their components may have failed due to the defectively packaged components, a growing number of Exactech Connexion GXL Liner hip lawsuits and Exactech Optetrak knee replacement lawsuits have been filed throughout the federal court system, each raising similar allegations to those presented by Schrott.

According to the lawsuit, Schrott received a Novation Crown Cup total hip replacement system in June 2018, which included a Connexion GXL Liner, which was later included in part of the Exactech liner recall.

“The expected lifetime for her hip implant was approximately twenty years,” the lawsuit notes. “However, the device prematurely failed in less than four years.”

Schrott indicates that x-rays of her hips showed evidence of polyethylene wear and osteolysis in February 2022. As a result of painful complications experienced with the hip replacement, she required revision surgery in October, to have the components replaced.

December 2022 Exactech Knee and Hip Replacement Lawsuit Update

Given similar questions of fact and law raised in the complaint, Schrott’s case will be centralized with other hip replacement lawsuits and knee replacement lawsuits being pursued against Exactech throughout the federal court system, which have been consolidated as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, before U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in the Eastern District of New York.

Judge Garaufis will preside over coordinated discovery into common issues in the complaints, and is expected to select small groups of representative claims to be prepared for early trial dates, to help parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation.

Lawyers involved in the cases met last month for an initial Exactech knee and hip replacement lawsuit state conference, at which time the Court discussed the organizational structure of the litigation, which was recently established in October 2022.

In addition to lawsuits pending in the federal court system, there are also a number of Exactech lawsuits over recalled implants pending in Florida state court, where the manufacturer’s U.S. headquarters are located, and the first jury trial is expected to begin in November 2023.