The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has decided to consolidate all litigation concerning Exactech knees, hips, and ankles due to the volume of filed lawsuits and the commonality of their issues. The MDL will be under one judge in New York.
The medical device company has had more than 140,000 suits filed regarding defective knee devices including the company’s Optetrak, Optetrak Logic and Truliant knee replacement systems implanted in patients since 2004. Exactech ankle devices have been the subject of an additional 1,500 lawsuits.
Similar problems have also impacted Exactech Novation and Acumatch hip implants since 2008, which were recalled in June 2021, and just last month the Exactech hip recall was expanded to add another 40,000 joint replacements that may fail prematurely.
The JPML assigned the litigation to U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Brooklyn-based Eastern District of New York, where about one-third of the cases have been filed so far. The Optetrak device was developed at Hospital for Special Surgery in Brooklyn, the plaintiffs noted.
The plaintiffs had suggested a different judge in the Eastern District, but the panel chose Garaufis because he is “well-versed in the nuances of complex and multidistrict litigation,” the order says.
If you or a loved one have had an Exactech hip, knee, or ankle medical device implanted and have experienced issues, please contact our team of experienced medical device lawyers immediately.
