DePuy ASR hip recall lawsuits experienced a great amount of
growth during September 2011. The number of such DePuy lawsuits being filed is still rapidly
increasing. The new lawsuits claim that use of the DePuy ASR hip device
(manufactured by DePuy Inc. and Johnson and Johnson) resulted in hip
complications due to hip replacement surgery.
Some devices were found to cause hip metal-on-metal
complications. DePuy hip metal-on-metal complications may result in additional
hip surgeries. Metal-on-metal complications are also quite painful, and can
also have a great impact on a patient’s life, health, and wellbeing. If the device becomes loose in a
patient’s body, it can then become unstable. This may cause bone fractures, as
well as a metal poisoning side effect.
DePuy Implant Lawsuits Begin
The first DePuy hip recall lawsuit was filed over a year
ago. This was after DePuy Orthopedics, Inc. had issued a voluntary recall of
two of its hip systems, the ASR XL and the ASR Resurfacing System. The recalls
were issued because a U.K. National Joint Registry revealed five-year revision
rates for the two devices that were more than 11 percent. Most of the DePuy
lawsuits claim that DePuy knew that the devices caused such serious problems as
hip failure, hip replacement surgeries, as well as metal poisoning. This was
alleged to be known by DePuy even before the recalls.
Each recent DePuy ASR hip recall lawsuit filed in the United
District Court for the Northern District of Ohio may have an effect on the
pending Multidistrict Litigation (MDL). Many lawsuits have followed the first,
which has created quite a large caseload. The caseload has grown to encompass
thirty federal courts. In an effort to streamline such litigation, every DePuy
hip lawsuit has since been consolidated within the United District Court for
the Northern District of Ohio—which is the MDL. This consolidation permits
several cases to have pretrial procedures at the same time. This consolidation
should also lessen pre-trial complications and thereby result in greater
efficiencies for the court and faster settlements.
