Our lawyers are accepting new Exactech recall lawsuits in all 50 states. Below we discuss the litigation, provide the most recent January 2023 updates – including the latest Exactech recall – and what our lawyers believe the average per person Exactech settlement amounts will be.
The medical device company Exactech is one of the leading manufacturers of implant systems utilized in joint replacement surgeries. Resurfacing Knee Replacement
Exactech recently launched a sweeping recall of all knee replacement implant systems manufactured after 2004 (Exactech Recall Letter). The implants are being recalled because it was discovered that a defect in the packaging caused a polyethylene insert component to degrade before use.
The degraded inserts caused the Exactech knee implants to fail prematurely (sometimes after only a few months), causing acute pain and requiring patients to have revision surgery to replace the implant. This led to an Exactech knee replacement class action lawsuit in 2022. These recall lawsuits are now pushing forward in 2023, as we discuss below.
In the last ten years, anyone who had knee replacement surgery with an Exactech implant system may be entitled to pursue a product liability lawsuit and get financial compensation for pain and suffering, medical expenses, and lost income resulting from their implant failure.
Our Exactech lawyers are actively seeking Exactech knee implant recall cases from patients adversely impacted by a defective Exactech knee implant system, including the Opetetrak® or Truliant® knee replacement systems. Contact us about filing an Exactech knee implant lawsuit.
We wrote last month about plaintiffs’ efforst to impose liability on a private equity sponsor of Exactech against TPG Inc., Osteon Holdings, Inc., Osteon Merger Sub, Inc., and Osteon Intermediate Holdings II, Inc. (collectively, “TPG”). Their lawyers wrote a letter on March 30, 2023 to MDL Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, asking for a hearing to dismiss the cases because they were not involved design, manufacture, packaging, or sale of any Exactech device.
Plaintiffs’ Exactech lawyers seek to pierce the corporate veil. To state a veil-piercing claim, a plaintiff must allege that the parent’s “exclusive domination and control to the point that the [subsidiary] no longer has legal or independent significance of its own” and “the corporate structure caused fraud or similar injustice.” The letter claims Plaintiffs have not state a veil-piercing claim for three reasons.
Firstly, defendants argue that the plaintiffs obfuscate the corporate structure to try to connect TPG to Exactech—ignoring the Osteon entities between Exactech and TPG Inc. Second, they say none of Plaintiffs’ allegations are sufficient to prove the “domination and control” required to state a veil-piercing claim. And third, Plaintiffs have not even tried to allege that Exactech “was formed or used by its corporate parents to achieve an improper purpose” or “exist[s] for no other purpose than as a vehicle for fraud.”
TPG argues that Plaintiffs’ claims were successfully asserted against it would upend the entire private equity industry (which might not exactly terrify middle America). TPG says it would be unprecedented. But TPG’s activity in the nuances of Exactech might be unprecedented, too.
Again, the whole purpose of this exercise is to make sure there is money to pay Exactech settlement amounts and jury payouts given the size of this litigation and the relative small size of Exactech.
This month, we witnessed a significant surge in new Exactech implant recall lawsuits, with 111 new cases either filed or transferred into the Exactech class action lawsuit over the past 30 days. This marks the largest monthly increase since the litigation’s inception, raising the total number of pending cases to 290. This likely signifies the beginning of an ongoing trend for the remainder of the year. Additionally, over 80 Exactech cases are pending in a Florida state court MDL.
So there is no longer any dispute as to whether there should be an MDL Exactech class action lawsuit. Exactech advised the MDL panel to favor a new class action lawsuit consolidating all Exactech implant recall lawsuits in federal courts.
In its response, Exactech also agreed with the plaintiffs that the Eastern District of New York would be the most appropriate venue for the MDL. Exactech’s consent effectively guarantees that the JPML will grant the request and form a new MDL for the Exactech recall cases.
What does this mean for your Exactech lawsuit? It means that if you file in federal court – which would seem to be the best place for victims to file – your Exactech lawsuit will be consolidated in front of a single judge in New York.
So if you are in California, Texas, Illinois, or any other state, your case for pretrial discovery will be housed in New York. If there is no Exactech settlement at the end of the pretrial discovery (and likely a few trials), your case will be remanded back to your home state for trial.
There are no guarantees in litigation. But our Exactech lawyers believe that these lawsuits will very likely settle long before there is a trial.
The JPML motion lists 27 Exactech recall lawsuits pending in 11 federal districts. Exactech attorneys seek to have the MDL established in the Eastern District of New York, and Exactech will almost certainly request the Northern District of Florida as the venue. Exactech is headquartered in Florida and has a brand name in northern Florida that it would hope has some sway with juries.
It has been less than a month since a motion was filed with the JPML asking for the Exactech recall lawsuits to be consolidated in a new MDL. At that time, 26 Exactech implant recall cases were pending in federal courts. Since then, another nine lawsuits have been filed against Exactech over its recent implant recall, bringing the total number of pending Exactech cases in federal courts up to 36. This will undoubtedly increase the likelihood that the JPML will grant the motion and create a new MDL for the Exactech recall cases.
This summer, Exactech was recently forced to expand the scope of the recall of its joint replacement implants. Exactech sent a new recall letter to healthcare providers last week, notifying them that the recall of hip and ankle implants initiated in February was not being expanded to cover an additional 40,000 implant components. The expanded recall covers acetabular hip liners in Exactech’s Connexion, Novation, and other brand implant systems.
This latest news comes just as the JPML created a new MDL Exactech class action lawsuit that is up and rolling in 2023.
If you have a recalled Exactech knee or ankle replacement implant, you should make an appointment with your doctor to discuss your options. Removal or replacement of the recalled implant may be necessary at some point. Still, for now, Exactech is advising doctors to maintain an index of patients with recalled implants and closely monitor them for signs of potential insert failure.
If you have a knee or ankle replacement implant system made by Exactech. Your surgery occurred after 2004, then your implant is almost definitely covered by the recall. The recall covers ALL Exactech total knee replacement systems and ankle replacement systems that were manufactured at any point after 2004. This effectively covers all Exactech knee and ankle implants surgically installed in the last nine years.
Many patients who have joint replacement surgery have no idea what brand of implant system they have. If you had total knee replacement surgery, but you don't know whether Exactech made your implant, you will need to ask your orthopedic doctor or request your medical records from the surgery to determine who manufactured your implant device.
As part of the recall, Exactech is inviting patients with recalled implants to submit "claims for reimbursement" and has hired a third-party administrator (Broadspire) to manage the claim process. Patients should be aware, however, that if they submit a claim for reimbursement to Exactech, they will likely waive their right to file a product liability lawsuit against Exactech for the recalled implant. Patients who submit reimbursement claims to Exactech will get far less compensation than they would otherwise be entitled to if they brought an Exactech recall lawsuit in civil court.
Our attorneys estimate that Exactech knee replacement recall lawsuits may have a settlement value of $130,000 to $190,000 and ankle replacement recall lawsuits may have a slightly higher value.
Predictions for Exactech settlement amounts at this stage are dicey. So take these settlement amount projections with a grain of salt. But they are based on historical settlement amounts in defective knee replacement lawsuits and the specifics of this Exactech recall.
If you have an Exactech knee replacement system implanted, you may be entitled to financial compensation for any complications or problems related to the implant. Consult with an Exactech recall lawyer to determine your legal options. Call 800-553-8082 today or get a free online consultation.
Personal injury lawyers handling serious personal injury truck and auto accident, medical malpractice and products liability cases throughout the United States.
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