Stryker Corporation

Stryker segregates their reporting into three reportable business segments: Orthopedics, Medical and Surgical (MedSurg), and Neurotechnology and Spine.[3]

• Orthopedics products consist primarily of implants used in hip and knee joint replacements and trauma and extremities surgeries.
• MedSurg products include surgical equipment and surgical navigation systems (Instruments); endoscopic and communications systems (Endoscopy); patient handling and emergency medical equipment (Medical); and reprocessed and remanufactured medical devices as well as other medical device products used in a variety of medical specialties.
• Stryker Neurotechnology and Spine products include a portfolio of products including both neurosurgical and neurovascular devices. Their neurotechnology offering includes products used for minimally invasive endovascular techniques, as well as a line of products for traditional brain and open skull base surgical procedures, orthobiologic and biosurgery products including synthetic bone grafts and vertebral augmentation products, as well as minimally invasive products for the treatment of acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Stryker also develops, manufactures and markets spinal implant products including cervical, thoracolumbar and interbody systems used in spinal injury, deformity and degenerative therapies.[4]

The Orthopedic Frame Company, the precursor of Stryker Corporation, was formed in 1941 by Dr. Homer Stryker, a Kalamazoo, Michigan, orthopedist and a 1925 graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School .[5] Stryker developed the Turning Frame, a mobile hospital bed that allowed for repositioning of injured patients while providing necessary body immobility; the cast cutter, a cast cutting apparatus that removed cast material without damaging underlying tissues; and the walking heel, among others. In 1964, the company name was officially changed to Stryker Corporation.[6]

In 1979, Stryker made an initial public offering of stock and later acquired Osteonics Corporation, entering the replacement hip, knee, and other orthopedic implants market (Stryker). In 1999 annual sales reached $2.1 billion, and in 2000 Stryker was included in the S&P 500 and the Forbes Platinum 400 for the first time. In 2002 sales reached $3.0 billion and Stryker was listed in the Fortune 500 for the first time.

In 2003, Stephen P. MacMillan joined Stryker as president and CEO. In 2005, annual sales reached $4.9 billion and John W. Brown transitioned to the single role of chairman of the board, a role he retired from in 2010,[7] while MacMillan became president and CEO. By 2007, Stryker sold its Physiotherapy Associates division to private equity firm Water Street Healthcare Partners for $150 million. In February 2012, Mr. MacMillan resigned and Curt R. Hartman was named Interim Chief Executive Officer and vice president and chief financial officer. Mr. William U. Parfet was named non-executive chairman of the board. On October 1, 2012, Mr. Kevin A. Lobo was appointed as president and chief executive officer.

At the end of 2012, Stryker had approximately 22,000 global employees and annual sales of $8.7 billion. 35% of those sales were outside the U.S.

Stryker Roll-In-Stretcher

In a 2012 global market overview of top medical technology firms, Stryker was ranked number 10 with total portfolio sales in excess of $8.6 billion. Moreover, the firm maintains 35% worldwide reconstructive market share; 50% worldwide MedSurg market share; 15% worldwide Neurotechnology and Spine market share.[8]

The company was recognized by Hermann Simon as a role model for other small to medium-sized business in his book Hidden Champions.[9] Stryker recently hired former Johnson & Johnson executive Rob Fletcher as its new chief legal officer.[10]

Brown served as president, CEO and finally chairman of the board across a 32-year career with Stryker.[7] One report attributes Stryker's rise from a maker of hospital beds to a world-class medical technology company to Brown.[7] As of 2013, Brown's retained investment in Stryker placed him on the Forbes 400 list with a net worth of US$1,500,000,000.[7]

As of 2018, members of the board of directors of Stryker Corporation are:[11]

• Kevin A. Lobo, chairman and CEO
• Allan C. Golston, lead independent director
• Mary K. Brainerd
• Srikant M. Datar, Ph.D.
• Dr. Roch Doliveux, DVM
• Louise L. Francesconi
• Sherilyn S. McCoy
• Andrew K. Silvernail
• Ronda E. Stryker
• Rajeev Suri
• John W. Brown, chairman emeritus
• Howard E. Cox, Jr, director emeritus

On January 27, 2000, Stryker Corporation restated its operating results for the year ended December 31, 1998, to reduce acquisition-related charges by $30.9 million.[45]

Since early 2007, the company has received three warning letters from the Food & Drug Administration citing issues in compliancy.[46][47] The first of these, a seven-page correspondence, named various issues at an Irish manufacturing facility, such as untimely fix of failures and procedural noncompliance in the testing of failed or otherwise problem-prone devices.[48] The second, sent November 2007, cites issues at the firm's Mahwah, New Jersey, facility, including poor fixation of hip implant components, in some instances requiring mitigation by revision surgeries; exceeded microbial level violations in the cleaning and final packaging areas of the sterile implants; and failure to institute measures in prevention of recurrence of these and other problems.[49] The final warning letter, sent April 2008, cites issues at the firm's Hopkinton, MA biotechnology facility. Again, issues relate to quality and noncompliance including falsification of documents relevant to the selling of products to hospitals which are to be sold under a limited, government-mandated basis. Stryker maintains that employees involved in the falsification of documents have since been terminated.[50]

In the fall of 2007, Stryker, along with the related companies Biomet, Zimmer Holdings, DePuy Orthopaedics and Smith & Nephew, were involved in civil litigation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. This litigation called for a net payout of $311 million as the governmental department maintains the aforementioned companies engaged in unlawful kickbacks to physicians who urged hospitals to purchase their respective products. Stryker, however, having cooperated early in the investigation, was not fined.[51]

As of February 2008, a dispute exists between Stryker Corp. and the U.S. Department of Justice concerning a subpoena linking the company to aforementioned misconduct in sale of products. Since governmental filing of the injunction, Stryker notes that it has produced in excess of 300,000 pages of documentation in compliance with the mandate. U.S. Government counters, however, that the documentation was not proper in scope and format. Law officials expect the investigation to continue for several months.[52]

Stryker recalled several models of medical vacuums sold under the Neptune Waste Management System brand in June and September 2012. The devices, some of which had not been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, caused a fatal accident when the vacuum was mistakenly used to suction a passive drainage tube.[53][54]

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Stryker was among those that continued business-as-usual in Russia rather than join the more than a thousand international corporations that have curtailed operations there. Research from Yale School of Management evaluating companies' reaction to the Russian invasion put Stryker in the "Grade F" category of "Digging In", meaning "Defying Demands for Exit or Reduction of Activities."[57]^{[Original research?]}

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