Howmedica Osteonics Corp. (“Stryker Orthopaedics”), a subsidiary of Stryker Corporation, and Court-appointed committees of attorneys representing Rejuvenate Modular-Neck and ABG II Modular-Neck plaintiffs in New Jersey Multicounty and Federal Multidistrict litigations announced a Settlement Agreement. The lawsuits stem from two hip implants that Stryker recalled due to corrosion and other problems.

Stryker will pay $1.43 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits from patients who had to have surgery to remove the hip implants. The settlement agreement resolves state and federal lawsuits against the maker of orthopedics.

Settlement reached!

Under the agreement, patients who are eligible and elect to participate in the settlement will receive a base award of $300,0000, plus additional enhancements based on their individual cases and the procedures they underwent. Patients who had both hips replaces would get the base award for each hip. Many of those patients have undergone revision surgeries to remove the defective implants.

The settlement covers 4,000 lawsuits filed in the last two years in New Jersey and Minnesota, where cases from across the nation were consolidated.

Stryker expects that base payments will be paid in by mid-2015, while enhanced award payments are expected to be paid in late 2015 or the first quarter of 2016.