Knee Implant Fails Due to Production Defect

Case Overview

This case takes place in Iowa and involves a patient who suffered a serious orthopedic incident following a failure of an artificial knee system. The plaintiff had the prosthetic knee for several months before it failed. The particular knee replacement system was a modular design, which failed at the point where the prosthetic was attached to the femur. It seems that the joint was machined improperly, leading to its eventual failure. The subject patient’s implanted knee system incorporated all the sizing and configuration of the “Worst Case Scenario” as outlined in documents published by the manufacturer. The FDA’s MAUDE database reveals that there have been over 50 reports of adverse events regarding the fracture or failure of the same type of hardware that failed in this case.

Questions to the Biomechanical Engineering expert and their responses

Are you familiar with this kind of knee replacement system?

I am familiar with this kind of knee replacement system.

Could you review this patient's prosthesis and opine as to whether or not the injury was caused by failure of the knee replacement system?

I could opine as to whether the injury was caused by the failure of the knee replacement system with the help of a metallurgist.

About the expert

This expert has been involved in medical engineering and biomechanics for over 35 years. Extensively published, he has secured over $1.2 million in research support across 10 projects. He has delivered more than 30 presentations at national and international meetings and has been an invited lecturer on more than 15 occasions at events such as the World Congress of Biomechanics and the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. The Director of Orthopaedic Biomechanical Engineering at The University of Chicago for 22 years, he retired from the University with Emeritus status and currently runs his own firm that provides consultation in the biomechanical engineering of injuries, accident reconstruction, failure analysis and clinical orthopedics.

E-007210

Specialties:

Biomechanical Engineering