Transcript:
Most people who were implanted with either the rejuvenate or EBG2 implant, the two recalled devices—most people received a letter from their physician by now, alerting them to that fact and asking them to come in and have an evaluation; and the evaluation typically involves a blood test. The blood test will check for the levels of chromium and cobalt in the blood. The other test that’s recommended is an MRI, which will look at the hip joint, and particularly look for fluid accumulations, which is a sign that there might be an adverse local tissue reaction going on, which is a sign that the hip is failing, and should probably either be closely monitored, or revised.
So I would recommend to people: if you have received a letter and you haven’t hired a lawyer yet, you should hire one. I’d like you to hire us, but if you don’t want to hire us, hire somebody, because you need to have your rights protected in this litigation.
Deal with Stryker on your own, because right now Stryker has their head in the sand. They don’t think this thing is a big problem. They are offering to pay through a company called Broadspire. Anything that insurance doesn’t pay for—so they still want all medical expenses run through the insurer, and they will pay for any patient pay portion of that. They’ll reimburse for mileage to and from the doctor, they say they’ll reimburse for wage loss, but nothing else. They’re not offering to pay one penny to have to go through this procedure again. They’re not offering one penny to people who have to go in and go through the pain of recovery. They’re not offering one penny for people who have complications. And there are patients who have complications either during or after the revision, including infection—some people have had strokes. They’re not offering anything for that!
And so my best advice is: if you’ve had the implant in, whether it’s been revised or not, you need to call a lawyer. The lawyer will make sure that your rights are protected, that any statute of limitation applicable in your state for these cases is protected, that lawsuits are filed in a timely manner, and that you get the compensation you deserve. You’re not going to get that, in my opinion, without a lawyer. And so my best advice is: contact a lawyer.
Now, if you have not received a letter from your doctor, and you believe you may have a recalled Stryker implant, call us. We will figure out exactly what you have—it isn’t a big deal. We simply contact the hospital, we get the product identification log, which gives the serial number and product ID number of what you have in you, and we’ll figure out exactly what you have, and we’ll let you know. If it turns out not to be a recalled Stryker product, at least you know what you have. If it is a recalled one, we can help you.