Stryker Howmedica Osteonics Corporation is one of the leading manufacturers of knee and hip implant components. Osteonics Corporation was founded in 1978 by two ex-Howmedica engineers and acquired by the Stryker Corporation in 1979. The company specializes in orthopaedic implant products, including hip/knee replacement surgeries. Once known for creating revolutionary orthopaedic implant designs, Stryker Corporation has been receiving complaints with regards to its implants for over three years now. Initially the complaints began with patients who received these implants and recurrent complaints led to the FDA's involvement in the matter.

The first sign of trouble for Stryker products surfaced in January 2005 when a lot of patients who had received these implants complained of various grave problems like extreme pain in the surgical area, squeaky joints, tendency of implant parts to break or chip off and/or difficulty in walking. Some patients also complained about bone fractures and had to undergo revision surgeries to rectify the defective implants. The FDA soon became aware of these complaints and began to investigate implant products of Stryker Corporation.

In 2007, the FDA sent warning letters to Stryker to fix failures in following procedures for testing problematic components and documenting risk. These primarily were knee replacement components (Duracon and Scorpio), hip replacement systems and Reconstruction & Trauma Cable System. In its later warning, the FDA reprimanded Stryker for its inability to implement adequate corrective and preventive measures in order to prevent recurrence of non-conforming products.

In January 2008, Stryker Corporation issued a voluntary recall of its ceramic Trident Acetabular PSL Cups and Trident Hemispherical Cups. The PSL variant is the most commonly used Stryker cup in the US. The hip-knee implant recall involved prosthetic products which were manufactured at Stryker's Ireland facility. The Stryker recall raised serious questions about the kind of quality controls employed by the company.

If you or someone you know has had a Stryker prosthetic device surgically implanted and believe it has failed, was defective, needs to be removed or has already been revised, you should approach a qualified lawyer to discuss your concerns. There are several lawyers and law firms that specialize in handling cases relating to the knee implant recall.

The Barton Law Firm has successfully represented many cases relating to the issues of Stryker recall, defective hip replacement and malfunctioning knee implant recall. The firm has won many drug and personal injury cases. To get answers on queries related to the Stryker knee implant recall, call at 1-866-LAW-1020.