DePuy Hip Lawsuits Filed Against ASR and Pinnacle Replacements

Shortly after the DePuy ASR hip system was introduced in 2005, DePuy Orthopedics began receiving a number of complaints of problems and complications associated with early failure for the metal hip implants. This can pertain to both the DePuy ASR and Pinnacle hip replacements.  In its second-quarter earnings results, Johnson & Johnson , the Warsaw Indiana-based DePuy Orthopedic’s parent company, reported that it paid $223 million in connection with DePuy ASR hip lawsuits, litigation associated with the defective hip implant and other products. The company reported a net income of $2.8 billion, down from $3.5 billion a year ago.

Some orthopedic experts believe that the U.S Depuy ASR hip recall was issued far too late, considering the increased rate of failure that had been observed with the devices. According to some of these specialists, DePuy’s hip implants may have been manufactured with a design flaw, making them difficult to correctly implant during surgery and, therefore, more prone to failure.

The hip replacement can fail within only a few years of surgery, causing pain and leading to complicated and expensive replacement surgery. It has been nearly a year since Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy subsidiary recalled ASR hip implants last August, and more than 1,000 people have already filed a DePuy ASR hip lawsuit against the company over problems experienced when the implant failed. In both DePuy’s ASR and Pinnacle hip replacement systems placement is exceedingly difficult for even the best surgeons, and without perfect placement, the problems can be even more exacerbated.

The DePuy Pinnacle implant is similar in many respects to the recalled DePuy ASR hip system, which was removed from the market in August 2010 due to a higher-than-expected failure rate. However, a number of individuals have also complained of DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement complications that may also be related to the design of the artificial hip.  It was approved under the 510(k) approval process as a "substantial equivalent" to older hip replacement devices, and it appears that a growing number of patients who had the hip implanted are discovering that it may be prone to early failure, just as the ASR was.