Tens of Thousands Implanted With Defective DePuy Hip

The DePuy ASR Acetabular Cup System first came on the market in 2005. It was cleared by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) via a process known as 510(k) approval. This process allows a manufacturer to obtain market approval with very little clinical testing of the device - including no human testing - if a manufacturer can prove it is "substantially similar" to another product already on the market. In 2010, an internal FDA review - ironically released shortly after the DePuy ASR hip implant recall was issued - found numerous flaws with the 510(k) process, prompting the agency to consider changing it.

In August 2010, DePuy issued a worldwide recall for the ASR XL Acetabular Hip Replacement System after data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales showed that 1 out of every 8 patients (12%-13%) who had received the devices had to undergo revision surgery within five years of receiving it. By then, more than 93,000 patients worldwide were fitted with an ASR hip implant. It is believed that roughly a third of those were patients in the U.S. In its second-quarter earnings results, Johnson & Johnson, DePuy’s parent company, reported that it paid $223 million in connection with DePuy ASR hip replacement recalls, litigation associated with the defective hip implant and other products.

In addition to a mounting number of DePuy ASR lawsuits filed in recent months over their recalled metal-on-metal hip replacement, DePuy Orthopedics is now facing lawsuits over their DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip replacement. According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), because the metal ball and the metal cup on these types of hip implants slide against each other during walking or running, some tiny metal particles may wear off of the device and enter into the space around the implant. Some of the metal ions from the metal implant or from the metal particles may even get into the bloodstream. It is known that over time, the metal particles around some implants can cause damage to bone and/or tissue surrounding the implant and joint.

DePuy Hip Failure and Recall May Stem From Botched Approval Process

On July 17^th of last year the FDA issued a Class 2 medical implant recall for DePuy Orthopedics ARS hip implant. Specifically, the company’s notification to clinicians of new revision rate information regarding the use of the devices was cited as a reason for the DePuy hip replacement recall.  The DePuy hip recall involved 29 models of the ASR 100 and 300 Acetabular Implants in cup sizes ranging from 44mm to 70 mm. Between 2007 and 2009, reports of problems with the DePuy ASR hip system began to spike, with nearly 100 recipients reporting problems in 2007, more than 200 reporting problems in 2008, and more than 300 reporting problems in 2009. Last year, U.K. researchers studied 660 patients who had received metal hip implants from DePuy Orthopedics and found that 3.4 percent suffered from adverse reactions to metal debris. 

Judge Rules on Sales Firm in DePuy Hip Lawsuit

Judge William M. Skretny of the United States District Court of the Western District of New York has eliminated Tomczak & Associates as a defendant in DePuy hip lawsuits. In the order, signed on December 30, 2011, the judge determined that since the company was formed years after plaintiff Eileen Vella received her DePuy hip replacement system they could not be held responsible for problems she allegedly experienced with the hip replacement system. 

Plaintiff named company in DePuy hip lawsuit

The DePuy hip lawyer for plaintiff Vella filed the original lawsuit on the 1st of March, 2010, in the Supreme Court for the State of New York, Erie County. Vella received her hip replacement system on May 3, 2000, according to the complaint, and subsequently experienced DePuy hip problems. Vella's DePuy ASR hip replacement system was subject to a later DePuy hip recall.

Small Victory for DePuy Hip Replacement Plaintiffs

A New York couple who had filed a DePuy hip replacement lawsuit against defendants DePuy Orthopedics, Johnson & Johnson, and Niagara Orthopaedic Supplies has prevailed after the defendants tried to get their case moved to the DePuy multidistrict litigation taking place in Ohio. Plaintiffs Paul and Tammie Stuhlmiller filed a DePuy hip lawsuit with a DePuy hip lawyer after Paul suffered side effects and failure after being fitted with a DePuy ASR hip replacement system. 

Plaintiffs file DePuy lawsuit after hip replacement problems

A number of patients of DePuy ASR hip replacement systems are choosing to consult DePuy hip lawyers and take legal action after experiencing DePuy hip failure and DePuy hip problems including premature loosening of the implant. The DePuy ASR artificial hip replacement device was pulled from the market in 2010 after reports and studies showed an unusually high rate of premature loosening or failure of the hip replacement system. 

Pinnacle Hip Lawsuit Filed in California

A new Pinnacle hip lawsuit, filed in California, is joining litigation against DePuy Orthopedics, an orthopedics manufacturing giant that is responsible for a number of products that have been the subject of lawsuits in recent months. The Pinnacle hip replacement system is one such product, and this new lawsuit is not unusual in terms of the others that have been brought against the orthopedics manufacturer. The plaintiff's Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System is, according to a complaint filed by the plaintiff's DePuy hip lawyer, the cause of certain side effects the plaintiff experienced after being fitted with the device. 

Pinnacle hip lawsuit filed in California court

This lawsuit was filed in the California Circuit Court of San Diego on the 23rd of November, 2011. On January 13th, it was removed from this court and assigned to the district court in the Southern District of California. The plaintiff, Lisa Elston's, Pinnacle hip lawsuit was transferred in anticipation of adding it as a "tag-along" case in Pinnacle multidistrict litigation that is currently taking place in the courts of the Northern District of Texas. 

Lawsuits Mount as DePuy Hip Replacements Continue to Fail

Potential individual claims and potential DePuy Pinnacle class action lawsuits are currently being reviewed by attorneys for individuals throughout the United States. DePuy ASR hip cases are also being pursued for individuals who received one of the recalled hip systems.  While the ASR is an exclusively metal-on-metal hip implant, the Pinnacle was available as a metal-on-metal option. More than 2,600 people have filed a DePuy ASR hip lawsuit in federal court alleging they experienced problems with their recalled artificial hip implant, and an average of 20 new cases are being filed every day, according to recent court documents. According to court documents released October 6, there are now at least 538 complaints consolidated before U.S. District Judge James E. Kinkeade in the DePuy Pinnacle MDL. Just three months ago, there were only 213 cases in the MDL.

Defective Design Sited in Tennessee DePuy Hip Lawsuit

Paul McCurley of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has had his DePuy lawyer file a lawsuit against DePuy Orthopedics, Inc., and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson, Inc., for the injuries he suffered after his DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant failed. “You just feel like you are a burden on everyone,” McCurley commented in describing his experience and ultimate need to undergo a second hip replacement surgery to replace the other hip following a DePuy hip failure. McCurley’s complaint asserts that DePuy knew that the Pinnacle all-metal hip generated unusual and dangerous levels of metal debris accumulation in many patients and presented abnormally high risks of early failure. Despite notice of these alleged problems and defects, DePuy continued to promote and sell the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip, and has not recalled the product.

Sales of the DePuy ASR hip replacement have been suspended in the United States since many doctors have reported a substantially higher need for revisions and further hip surgery. There have also been numerous patient complaints of crippling pain they experienced following their implantation with this defective device. For more than two years there have been reports of the DePuy ASR Hip Implants failing in patients only a few years after implant, requiring costly and painful replacement operations. In addition to a mounting number of DePuy ASR lawsuits filed in recent months over their recalled metal-on-metal hip replacement, DePuy Orthopedics and Johnson & Johnson are now facing lawsuits over their DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip replacement, which also allegedly has design defects that may make it prone to early failure.

Similar to the ASR hip systems, the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system received FDA approval through the expedited 510(k) process, which only requires a manufacturer to show that its medical device is substantially similar to devices already available on the market. Manufacturers are able to bypass rigorous pretrial testing and FDA inspection. The DePuy ASR hip implant recall is a prime example as to why the current 510(k) process is flawed and jeopardizes the safety and welfare of the public. If DePuy had been required to undergo the standard approval process, it is probable that the severe hip replacement complications stemming from the metal-on-metal implants would have been detected and the implants would not have been cleared for patient use.