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Contingencies and Commitments
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Contingencies and Commitments 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. We recorded charges of $28 in March 2022 accordingly. Stryker is appealing the results of the trial. 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, damages enhancement and an injunction related to another version of our PrimaFit products. A trial for this matter is currently set for February 2024. PureWick may seek to recover its legal fees if it is ultimately successful in either matter.
We are currently investigating whether certain business activities in certain foreign countries violated provisions of the 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.
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 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. Based on the information that has been received related to the matters discussed above, we recorded charges of $85 in 2023, and our accrual for these matters was $292 at December 31, 2023, representing our best estimate of probable loss. 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
We lease various manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities, administrative and sales offices as well as equipment under operating leases. We evaluate our contracts to identify leases, which is generally if there is an identified asset and we have the right to direct the use of and obtain substantially all of the economic benefit from the use of the identified asset. Certain of our lease agreements contain rent escalation clauses (including index-based escalations), rent holidays, capital improvement funding or other lease incentives. We recognize our minimum rental expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease beginning with the date of initial control of the asset. Right-of-use assets are recorded in Other noncurrent assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Current and noncurrent lease liabilities are recorded in Accrued expenses and other liabilities and Other noncurrent liabilities, respectively.
We have made certain significant assumptions and judgments when recording leases. For all asset classes, we do not recognize a right-of-use asset and lease liability for short-term leases. We also do not separate non-lease components from lease components to which they relate and account for the combined lease and non-lease components as a single lease component. The determination of the discount rate used in a lease is our incremental borrowing rate which is based on what we would normally pay to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term an amount equal to the lease payments.
20232022
Right-of-use assets $494 $473 
Lease liabilities, current $143 $121 
Lease liabilities, noncurrent $356 $357 
Other information:
Weighted-average remaining lease term (years)5.55.5
Weighted-average discount rate3.87 %3.22 %
Operating lease expense totaled $172, $149, and $133 in 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Future Obligations
We have purchase commitments for materials, supplies, services and property, plant and equipment as part of the normal course of business. In addition, we lease various manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities, administrative and sales offices as well as equipment under operating leases. Refer to Note 10 for more information on the debt obligations.
20242025202620272028Thereafter
Debt repayments$2,097 $1,400 $1,000 $831 $2,751 $5,001 
Purchase obligations$2,349 $213 $83 $65 $20 $20 
Minimum lease payments$150 $108 $87 $56 $41 $78