Products Liability Law Reporter

Mary Bayes, 59, underwent bilateral hip replacement surgeries and was implanted both times with the Biomet M2a Magnum, a metal-on-metal implant. She began to experience groin and hip pain approximately a year later and underwent exploratory surgery, which revealed dead tissue around her left hip.

Bayes required the removal of both hip implants and has since suffered 12 hip dislocations. She has also undergone seven revision surgeries and now requires a cane for walking.

Bayes and her husband sued Biomet, Inc., and other Biomet entities, alleging negligent design. The plaintiffs alleged that the Magnum caused metal ions to enter Bayes’s bloodstream and damage the soft tissue around her prosthesis. Moreover, the plaintiffs asserted, the defendants had failed to properly test the Magnum before placing it on the market and did so without testing the implant in humans. Suit did not claim lost income or past medical expenses.

The jury awarded $21 million, including $1 million to Bayes’s husband.

Citation: Bayes v. Biomet, Inc., No. 4:13-cv-00800-SRC (E.D. Mo. Nov. 18, 2020).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Darin L. Schanker, J. Christopher Elliott, and Melanie Sulkin, all of Denver; AAJ member Zachary Wool, New Orleans; Jessica Perez Reynolds, Plaquemine, La.; and James O’Leary and Michael Quillon, both of St. Louis.

Plaintiff experts: George Kantor, orthopedic surgery, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Francis Gannon, pathology, Houston; Mari S. Truman, biomechanics, Warsaw, Ind.; and Paul S. Lux, orthopedic surgery, Creve Coeur, Mo.

Defense experts: Thomas Fleeter, orthopedics, Reston, Va.; Steven Kurtz, orthopedic implants, Philadelphia; and Thomas Bauer, pathology, New York City.