Boca Raton firm now investigating Cartiva implant injury claims tied to the 2024 Stryker recall and federal MDL 3172 in the Eastern District of Arkansas.
BOCA RATON, FL, UNITED STATES, — Baker Legal Team, the South Florida product liability firm founded by Board Certified civil trial attorney Robert B. Baker, today announced a dedicated national practice and new website focused on patients allegedly injured by the Cartiva Synthetic Cartilage Implant (SCI), recalled by Stryker on October 31, 2024.
The Cartiva SCI is a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel device used to treat big toe arthritis as a motion preserving alternative to fusion surgery. The FDA classified the action as a Class II recall (FDA Recall #Z-0598-2025) covering all lots distributed July 2016 through October 2024, identifying the cause as “Device Design.”
Plaintiffs allege the implant subsides into the bone, displaces, fragments, and causes nerve damage, frequently requiring revision, removal, or the very fusion surgery it was marketed to avoid. While the pivotal MOTION trial reported under 10% revision at two years, independent studies have reported far higher failure rates, including subsidence in 64% to 79% of patients in one 2020 study and a 29% reoperation rate in a 2024 comparative study.
On February 5, 2026, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized federal cases into MDL No. 3172 before Judge Kristine G. Baker in the Eastern District of Arkansas. An MDL is not a class action; each plaintiff keeps an individual case.
“Patients who chose Cartiva were promised a motion preserving alternative to fusion,” said Robert Baker. “For too many, the result was the opposite. We built this practice so injured patients can understand the recall, understand MDL 3172, and learn whether they have a claim, without pressure and without cost.”
Patients may qualify if they received a Cartiva implant between July 2016 and October 2024 and later experienced implant failure, persistent pain, nerve damage, or required revision, removal, or fusion surgery. Cases are accepted nationwide on a contingency basis, with no fee unless a recovery is obtained.
Free case evaluations are available at bakerlegalteam.com and at the firm’s dedicated site, https://toeimplantlawyer.com.
Media Contact:
- Robert Baker
- Baker Legal Team
- +1 888-468-4608
- rbb@bakerlegalteam.com
