Nobel Biocare Holding may be able to settle a class action lawsuit involving 1,000s of dentists for $1.3 million after a federal judge tentatively OK’d the deal.
The class action, headed by Dr. Jason Yamada, includes any U.S. dentists who bought Nobel implant products (except the company’s NobelDirect Groovy device) – more than 2,900 dentists.
The plaintiffs contend that Nobel’s dental implant design is defective and the company’s supposedly simpler, 1-step device actually leads to gum loss, bone erosion and total implant failure, according to court documents.
Zurich, Switzerland-based Nobel Biocare introduced the NobelDirect implant line in 2004. Three years later, independent research from the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden showed that 8% of the implants were lost 3 years after implant, according to the documents. In January 2008, Nobel issued a safety notice claiming any bone loss was due to incorrect placement of dental screws and updated the instructions it sent to dentists.
Judge Michael Fitzgerald of the U.S. District Court for Central California is slated to review the settlement and make a final decision in October. If that happens, Nobel will reimburse each class member for the cost of the implant (or pay $450 if no purchase records can be found), for a potential total of just more than $1.3 million.
