Contingencies and Commitments

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

We are involved in various ongoing proceedings, legal actions and claims arising in the normal course of business, including proceedings related to product, labor, intellectual property and other matters, the most significant of which are more fully described below. The outcomes of these matters will generally not be known for prolonged periods of time. In certain of the legal proceedings the claimants seek damages as well as other compensatory and equitable relief that could result in the payment of significant claims and settlements and/or the imposition of injunctions or other equitable relief. For legal matters for which management had sufficient information to reasonably estimate our future obligations, a liability representing management's best estimate of the probable loss, or the minimum of the range of probable losses when a best estimate within the range is not known, is recorded. The estimates are based on consultation with legal counsel, previous settlement experience and settlement strategies. If actual outcomes are less favorable than those estimated by management, additional expense may be incurred, which could unfavorably affect future operating results. We are self-insured for certain claims and expenses. The ultimate cost to us with respect to product liability claims could be materially different than the amount of the current estimates and accruals and could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

In April 2022 the United States District Court for the District of Delaware issued a judgment following a jury verdict in favor of PureWick Corporation (PureWick) for its 2019 complaint seeking patent infringement damages related to our PrimaFit and PrimoFit products. Following a jury trial, the court awarded damages related to this complaint and we recorded charges of $28 in March 2022. Stryker plans to appeal the results of the trial. If ultimately successful, PureWick may seek to recover its legal fees. In June 2022 PureWick filed a motion to enhance the damages awarded, which the court denied in March 2023. In 2022 PureWick also filed a separate complaint seeking additional patent infringement damages related to our current PrimaFit products. A trial for this matter is currently set for December 2023.

We are currently investigating whether certain business activities in certain foreign countries violated provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and have engaged outside counsel to conduct these investigations. We have been contacted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, United States Department of Justice and certain other regulatory authorities and are cooperating with these agencies. At this time we are unable to predict the outcome of the investigations or the potential impact, if any, on our financial statements.

Recall Matters

We have conducted voluntary recalls of certain products, including our Rejuvenate and ABG II Modular-Neck hip stems and certain lot-specific sizes and offsets of LFIT Anatomic CoCr V40 Femoral Heads. Additionally, we are responsible for certain product liability claims, primarily related to certain hip products sold by Wright Medical Group N.V. (Wright) prior to its 2014 divestiture of the OrthoRecon business.

We have incurred, and expect to incur in the future, costs associated with the defense and settlement of claims and lawsuits related to our recalls. Based on the information that has been received, we have recorded reserves of $194, representing our best estimate of probable loss related to recall matters globally. The final outcomes of these matters are dependent on many factors that are difficult to predict. Accordingly the ultimate cost related to these matters may be materially different than the amount of our current estimate and accruals and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows.


Leases	June			December
	2023			2022
Right-of-use assets	$	481		$	473
Lease liabilities, current	$	125		$	121
Lease liabilities, non-current	$	363		$	357

Other information:
Weighted-average remaining lease term (years)	5.7			5.5
Weighted-average discount rate	3.60		%	3.22		%


	Three Months				Six Months
	2023		2022		2023		2022
Operating lease cost	$	41	$	38	$	79	$	73