Legal Options May Affect DePuy Lawsuit Settlements

As word of the DePuy hip implant recall has spread, more and more people affected by the faulty device have filed lawsuits against the manufacturer.
The defective device was sold and implanted into more than 30,000 patients, none of whom were aware of the possible danger. By the end of December 2010, hundreds of lawsuits had been filed in both state and federal courts against DePuy Orthopaedics and the doctors and hospitals that sold the device and performed the implantation.
Many of the DePuy lawsuits consist of complaints of almost identical hip complications, however they are not all the same case. At this time, the exact amounts of any individual settlements are in limbo, pending the results of the various lawsuits.

DePuy MultiDistrict Litigation Lawsuits

At the present time, an Ohio federal judge is consolidating around 150 lawsuits, which have been filed in more than 30 distinct federal courts across the nation. This procedure is known as multidistrict litigation, called “MDL” in the legal community. The MDL process involves taking many similar lawsuits and putting them through necessary pre-trial procedures collectively. This may include steps such as discovery, scientific testing, and witness testimony; all of which take place before going to trial.
The benefit of MDL is that such consolidation serves to make the intricate and often conflicting pre-trial work more efficient. Without MDL, such work would need to be processed hundreds of times in many different courts all over the United States. Following MDL, each suit will be returned or “remanded” to the court where the lawsuit was first filed, unless a settlement is reached between DePuy and the defendant before the process has finished.

DePuy Class Action Lawsuits

Each lawsuit within the MDL proceedings shall retain its individual status when it reaches trial. However a class action lawsuit against DePuy combines many distinct lawsuits into a sole legal action. Under certain circumstances MDL is preferred to a class action lawsuit, since each plaintiff retains a greater amount of control over his or her fate, whether it be in a settlement or in a trial following the MDL litigation.
Nevertheless, in regards to the DePuy hip implant recall, at least two major class action lawsuits have already been filed.
In September of 2010, Katheryn Bendel filed a class action lawsuit against DePuy at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Her suit calls for DePuy covering all costs related to the diagnosis and treatment of any health problems that resulted from its defective ASR XL Acetabular Systems. In addition, her lawsuit aims to prevent DePuy from getting in touch with recipients of the implant through their physicians.
In September of 2010, husband and wife Timothy and Elaine Callahan filed a different class action lawsuit against DePuy in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Their lawsuit alleges that DePuy deceived recipients of the flawed hip implant with the intention of coaxing them to sign away any eligibility for compensation which may become possible through a future ruling or settlement.

DePuy Lawsuits: Federal or State court?

If a DePuy hip recipient files his or her claim in a state court, he or she could in this way avoid joining any of the current federal MDL and class action lawsuits. It is advised that any person affected by the hip recall contact a DePuy lawyer for counsel on the most efficient way to file a lawsuit in order to secure the greatest possible settlement prospects.