Exactech Joint-Replacement Injury Suits Sent to New York Court

Joint-replacement maker Exactech Inc. and unit Exactech U.S. Inc. will face a combined proceeding in New York by patients who allege they were harmed by flawed components in certain recalled hip, knee, and ankle prostheses.

Combining the cases into a single proceeding will increase efficiency and prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said Friday.

Patients generally claim that their devices prematurely failed, requiring revision surgery and causing personal injuries. They alleged that manufacturing and other problems allowed the liner component to be exposed to excess oxygen, causing it to wear out sooner than expected.

• Exactech issued recalls in 2021 and 2022.
• The plaintiffs allege they suffered joint loosening and pain. They raise various product liability claims against the companies.
• The panel sent the cases to the Eastern District of New York. That district, where 26 cases are pending—more than a third of the 75 total number of suits—is a relatively underutilized forum for multidistrict litigation, it said.
• Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis will oversee the proceeding.
• Exactech agreed that common legal and factual issues warrant the creation of a single proceeding but urged the panel to send the litigation elsewhere, suggesting the Southern District of New York and other locations.

Weitz & Luxenberg filed the petition. Bowman & Brooke LLP represents Exactech.

The case is In re: Exactech Polyethylene Orthopedic Prod. Liab. Litig., J.P.M.L., No. 3044, 10/7/22.