Florida Knee Recall Lawyers

Knee Replacement Injury Lawyers Serving Clients in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale, & More

Knee replacement surgery, a common procedure to address joint deterioration, utilizes implants to alleviate pain and restore mobility. While these implants can significantly improve quality of life, manufacturing defects can lead to serious complications. When companies fail to design and produce safe products, patients can be exposed to unreasonable risks.

If you have received a defective knee replacement and suffered an injury as a result, you may be entitled to compensation. At The Florida Law Group, we can help you understand your legal rights and explore your options for seeking financial recovery for medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages. 

We are prepared to fight for you. Call (833) 899-0310to schedule a free consultation with a Florida knee recall attorney at The Florida Law Group today.

Complications from a Defective Knee Implant

As the knee is such a critical component of the body, a defective replacement knee may cause substantial damage to the surrounding area, further aggravating the situation. This can create serious problems, particularly for the elderly who often do not recover from surgery as quickly.

Defective knee implants can lead to:

• Infections
• Reduced mobility
• Complications for getting another replacement knee

A defective knee can also require long-term physical therapy and medical care. You may also need to take expensive anti-inflammatory drugs or other medications for ongoing complications related to the defective knee. All of these matters should be addressed in a comprehensive product liability claim for damages.

Pre-existing Injuries

One of the main difficulties in many product liability disputes involving a medical device is that the end-user (the patient) already suffers from injuries/conditions that may be similar to the injuries suffered due to the product defect.  For example, a patient who gets a knee replacement is already likely to have a deteriorated, weakened knee structure. Therefore, further damage to the knee structure (as a result of a defective knee replacement) may not be easy to separate and understand.

Fortunately, in Florida and elsewhere, even if you did not suffer a “new” injury, you are entitled to damages for any pre-existing injuries that were exacerbated by the defect.

Product Recalls and Liability

When a manufacturer recalls a product, they may not necessarily concede that the product is defective.  Even if they do, they may argue that the defect at issue did not actually cause your injuries.  Product recalls may be voluntarily undertaken by a manufacturer or imposed on them at the request of a government agency.

As such, from a product liability perspective, a product recall is not itself sufficient to “win” the case.  It can, however, serve as evidence that the product was defective (particularly as there is likely to be internal documentation that may support the argument that the knee replacement product was defective).  In order to prove that the product was defective, you will also have to introduce other evidence.

It’s worth noting that if your physician was aware of a product recall (relating to your knee replacement implant) and continued to recommend and surgically implant such products, you may have an actionable medical malpractice claim against them.

Common Knee Replacement Defects

Common knee replacement defects include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Poor materials, leading to excessive wear and tear
• Loosening knee replacement implant
• Unstable knee replacement implant (due to fractures or otherwise)
• Bacterial infection
• Excessive loss of range of motion

DePuy & Zimmer Knee Replacement Defects

The DePuy knee replacements have been under extreme scrutiny and have even been the subject of frequent lawsuits in recent years. As of January 2012, DePuy Orthopaedics pulled a number of its devices off of the market, including the components of the PFC Sigma Knee Systems product line. Some of the products were recalled due to dangerous bone loss as a requirement for various surgeries. Also, DePuy’s class I recall for the LPS Diaphyseal Sleeve informed surgeons to stop using this product to correct issues in the knee’s soft tissue and bones. The FDA says that the Diaphyseal Sleeve can cause infections and fractures in the knee.

The Zimmer Manufacturing Company creates a wide variety of knee replacements including the NexGen and the NexGen Flex. The NexGen Flex was created and implemented without clinical trials, and this has forced some of the early patients who received the device to undergo serious surgery procedures to replace the implant.

Some of the problems that victims suffered included:

• Severe knee pain
• Poor range of motion
• Device failure
• Swelling
• Loosening of the knee component

Contact The Florida Law Group to Setup a Free Consultation

The Florida Law Group is a boutique litigation firm serving a variety of clients in personal injury disputes that include those centered around product defect claims, such as hip implant defects (and associated recalls).  Our attorneys have decades of experience representing the interests of injured clients and have gained critical insight into the strategies employed by opposing counsel in product defect lawsuits, enabling us to overcome the challenges presented by such litigation.

Unlike many of our competitors, we are focused on providing client-oriented legal representation.  From the moment we are brought onto a case, we invest the time, effort, and attention necessary to learn about the client’s goals and limitations, and we tailor our representation accordingly.

Ready to move forward with your claims?  Call (833) 899-0310 or send us a message online  to schedule a free and confidential consultation with one of the skilled Tampa product liability attorneysat The Florida Law Group today.