DePuy Acetabular Hip Recalled Too Late, Experts Say

DePuy Lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson have alleged that the two companies knew about problems with the DePuy hip replacements for at least two years before the recall. Although the Food and Drug Administration received at least 400 reports of problems with DePuy hip implants in the two years before the recall, the company waited for months after concerns about the products became widespread among some experts before taking them off the market. A number of health experts have stated that DePuy should have issued the hip replacement recall earlier after reports emerged that the devices were failing at a higher than normal rate.

Doctors estimate that 5% of patients that undergo hip replacement surgery will require “revision surgery” to correct problems and DePuy hip complications with their device within five years. By contrast, 12-13% of patients who received one of the recalled DePuy implants required repair surgery in five years or less. Patients who have experienced problems with a DePuy hip replacement have reported a number of symptoms including pain or swelling in the hip and difficulty while walking. In addition to this, as the metal hip replacement parts rub against each other, microscopic particles of cobalt and chromium may be shed into the body, which can result in metal poisoning, also known as metallosis. This may result in soft tissue damage, inflammatory reactions, bone loss, genetic damage, asceptic fibrosis, local necrosis or other problems that may lead to the need for a risky hip revision surgery.

Hundreds of similar DePuy ASR hip lawsuits have been filed by individuals throughout the United States. All federal cases are centralized and consolidated as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio under Judge David A. Katz. A number of DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuits have also been centralized at the state level in New Jersey state court. Plaintiffs in class action lawsuits against DePuy have alleged that the company knew about problems with these products well before they were pulled from sale in the U.S. Victims suffering from DePuy hip complications should contact an experienced DePuy Hip Lawyer immediately.