In discussing the company’s financial future, executives of Zimmer Holdings, Inc. have determined that the recent Zimmer Durom Cup lawsuits as well as the temporary suspension of hip cup sales in July of last year, had a profound effect on their sales numbers as well as their future sales forecast.
Referring to the Zimmer Durom Cup lawsuits as a “distraction”, company officials have neglected to mention that leading hip replacement surgeons complained directly to the company that their medical device was defective. The financial release which was posted on Market Watch, did not refer directly to lawsuits. Rather, it euphemistically referred to them as “claims from a number of Durom Cup patients seeking reimbursement for costs and payments for alleged pain and suffering and we expect to receive additional similar claims.” In fact, the company has put aside $69 million to cover Zimmer Durom Cup lawsuits.
As a consumer justice attorney, representing victims who’ve suffered a great deal due to these defective Zimmer Durom Cups, I can tell you their pain and suffering is real. Their lives have been limited and severely altered by problems with these hip devices. Many if not all Durom Cup patients have been forced to endure the agony of revision surgery to correct the problem. In fact, one of our clients is still waiting for a new hip. She had had a Zimmer Durom Cup but if failed and went in for revision surgery. Unfortunately, she developed an infection and still has no hip! She’s getting around her house with spacers in her hip joint. This is a single mother who just bought a house last year. When her disability runs out, she’ll lose her job in the warehouse where she was working. This isn’t a distraction, it’s a tragedy. Perhaps, Zimmer should focus on the human side of these “distractions” instead of their own bottom line and financial forecast.