Young Arizona Woman Joins DePuy Litigation

A 21-year-old Tucson, Arizona woman has become one of the youngest plaintiffs to become involved in the ongoing DePuy hip multidistrict litigation centered in Ohio. Cassandra Eubanks filed her DePuy hip lawsuit on January 10, 2012, after experiencing pain and DePuy hip complications as a result of her DePuy hip implant. Eubanks, who received her implant when she was only 15, allegedly experienced pain in her groin, right hip, and lateral hip area radiating down her thigh after the device was implanted in her right hip. 

The lawsuit filed by Eubanks' DePuy hip lawyer also claims that Eubanks experienced increased heavy metals, including chromium and cobalt, in her bloodstream. Like many plaintiffs involved in DePuy lawsuits, she was forced to undergo revision surgery in 2011 to have the device removed. The lawsuit filed by her DePuy hip lawyer alleges that the injuries she suffered were directly correlated to the failure of her right hip implant.

DePuy Hip Leads to Lawsuits

The DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System, which is used in total hip replacements, is manufactured and sold by DePuy Orthopedics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The system consists of a porous coated hemispherical outer shell and a liner that locks into the outer shell, which can be either polyethylene or metal. The liner component articulates with the femoral head, which is typically metal. Metal-on-metal hip replacements, which use cobalt and chromium in their construction, currently account for about one-third of the 250,000 hip replacements performed each year in the United States. However, in recent years, concerns over problems with metal-on-metal hip replacements have been growing. Patients are requiring a second DePuy hip revision surgery, which is a painful lengthy process.

DePuy ASR Found to Have Same Problems as Pinnacle Hip Implant

The DePuy ASR was approved as a substantially equivalent design to the DePuy Pinnacle hip, which appears to be causing the same or worse problems as the ASR. Last year, the FDA’s MedWatch adverse event reporting system registered at least 548 complaints about DePuy Pinnacle problems, with many reports indicating that the implants failed years before they were supposed to or caused symptoms that may be consistent with metal poisoning. These reports likely constitute only a small portion of the total number of issues from DePuy Pinnacle hips, which should have been identified by the manufacturer and led to a DePuy Pinnacle hip recall.

Pinnacle Hip Lawsuit Settlements Likely for Many

DePuy Orthopedics has been at the centre of many controversies surrounding two of their most popular hip replacement systems – the DePuy ASR and the DePuy Pinnacle artificial hips have both been cited as the cause of a multitude of side effects and DePuy hip complications patients have been experiencing. The devices are similar to one another, with the DePuy ASR system only available as a metal-on-metal implant, while the Pinnacle comes with a variety of options, including metal-on-metal, metal-on-ceramic, ceramic-on-ceramic, and other combinations of materials.

DePuy Hip Recall Lawsuits Affect Multiple Brands

DePuy’s Pinnacle and ASR systems have both been hit by DePuy lawsuits, but only the ASR system has ever experienced a recall. They are very similar products, both of which rely on a metal-on-metal ball-socket component that can contribute to problems like metal poisoning or metallosis. In a metal-on-metal joint replacement system, the metal components can scrape against each other and metal dust can flake off into the bloodstream and soft tissues of a patient, causing swelling and pain.

Younger Patients Suffer the Most in DePuy Hip Recall

DePuy Orthopedics announced on August, 2010 that it was voluntarily recalling the ASR hip replacement system after receiving reports that a higher-than-normal number of patients required revision surgeries to correct or remove defective implants. The company said it was pulling the Acetabular and ASR Hip Resurfacing systems from the market "due to the number of patients who required a second hip replacement procedure." Lawsuits over the ASR implant have piled up across the country, accusing DePuy of manufacturing a defective product, failing to warn patients and doctors of problems with the implant and negligence in designing, manufacturing and selling the product. DePuy, which introduced the ASR in the U.S. in 2005 after winning clearance from the Food & Drug Administration, allegedly knew of design problems with the cup but failed to adequately warn physicians, according to the lawsuits, which have been scheduled to go ahead as an MDL. Patients are experiencing various DePuy hip complications that require an additional surgery.
On Thursday, the company officially issued a DePuy hip recall, acknowleding that data shows the ASR Hip Resurfacing System has a 12% failure rate and the ASR XL Acetabular System has a 13% failure rate. The risk of DePuy hip problems was especially high among those implanted in women and those with heads below 50 mm. The DePuy ASR hip was especially popular among younger patients because it was marketed as being more stable and less susceptible to dislocation after surgery. However, problems with the metal-on-metal implant began rolling in shortly after the devices were introduced.
All of the DePuy lawsuits involve similar allegations that the DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System was defectively designed or manufactured, and that inadequate warnings were provided about the risk of complications or problems following hip replacement. The MDL Panel determined that the actions all involve common questions of fact and that centralization of the cases will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses, as well as promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation. Establishing a DePuy Pinnacle Hip MDL will also help eliminate duplicative discovery, prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings on discovery and other issues, and conserve the resources of the parties, the lawyers and the court.

DePuy Tries to Limit Their Own Suffering

In August 2010, a DePuy ASR hip recall was issued for approximately 93,000 defective implants after data confirmed that the device has an unreasonably high rate of hip failure, often requiring individuals to undergo a second surgery to revise the original hip replacement. 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. The hip replacement can fail within only a few years of surgery, causing pain and leading to complicated and expensive DePuy hip revision surgery. In August 2010, Johnson & Johnson's subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics finally agreed to recall DePuy ASR hip implants. Data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales found that the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System had a 12% revision rate and the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System had a revision rate of 13%.

DePuy Pinnacle Hip Litigation Likely to be Consolidated

Many legal experts believe that it is likely that DePuy hip lawsuits surrounding DePuy’s Pinnacle hip replacement systems will be consolidated in multidistrict litigation, a legal process that combines the pretrial processes of similar cases in order to help speed the litigation process. Unlike class action, which is a similar method of consolidating related cases, multidistrict litigation cases may be sent back to the courts from which they originated after pretrial processes such as witness testimony and evidence collection are complete.

FDA the Last to Ban DePuy Hip Replacements

At the end of August, 2010 Johnson and Johnson and its DePuy Orthopaedics subsidiary announced a voluntary recall for the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System and the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System. Nearly 100,000 people may be affected by this product recall. According to the new data, Within five years of implantation, about 12 percent of people who got the ASR resurfacing device, and 13 percent of people who got the ASR total hip replacement, have had DePuy hip complications and had them surgically removed and replaced with a different product.
The signs of trouble include swelling, pain and even difficulty walking. Persistent side effects of Depuy can signal a loose implant, fracture of the bone around it, or dislocation of the implant's ball and socket, the company reported. Metal-on-metal hip implants, like the recalled DePuy ASR hip replacement, have been linked to metal poisoning or metallosis, which could cause serious problems with the hip replacement. Symptoms often involve the development of pain, inflammation and difficulty walking as the metal-on-metal parts rub against each other and release debris or small metal fragments. Many individuals are filing DePuy lawsuits to receive compensation.

DePuy ASR Cases Centralized in New Jersey Take Shape

A significant number of cases in DePuy ASR hip implant litigation have been filed in Indiana, New Jersey, and California. California is the home of major ASR engineers, and Indiana is the headquarters of DePuy Orthopedics itself. New Jersey is the location of the headquarters of Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceuticals giant of which DePuy is a major subsidiary.
In April, the New Jersey state judiciary issued an order centralizing New Jersey DePuy lawsuits in the Superior Court of Bergen County, which would help coordinate them with federal cases – which have been consolidated and centralized in Ohio – as well as contribute to the simplification of the legal process, which could lead to expedited trials and results for some plaintiffs. Although a decision to this effect has not yet been made, it is possible thatIndiana lawsuits may also be consolidated with the New Jersey lawsuits.

DePuy Hip Recall Lawsuits Filed Across the Country

Since the recall of the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular Metal-on-Metal hip replacement system in August of last year, lawsuits have been filed throughout the United States by patients who have suffered some of the side effects associated with the device. Most recently, on April 14th, five new cases were filed in Houston, Texas. The plaintiffs in these suits – Juan and Helen Campo, Elizabeth and Charles Gorbett, Thomas and Melanie Neal, Richard Boyd, and Patricia Taylor – have all experienced DePuy hip complications.
A study has shown that almost 50 percent of patients could expect to see serious complications and failure associated with their defective DePuy hip implant within six years, with issues such as component loosening or misalignment, hip implant dislocation, infection, bone fracture, and metal poisoning causing pain and difficulty for many patients across the country. A significant number of these patients have become plaintiffs in the ongoing DePuy lawsuit, with the most recent plaintiffs’ lawyer calling the number of lawsuits “staggering”.
Most plaintiffs in DePuy cases have either already undergone or will undergo hip revision surgery, a procedure that will replace the device with one less prone to failure. Not only is the surgery more complicated than the initial hip implant surgery, it poses additional dangers to the plaintiff – surgeons have to work around scar tissue and other damage caused by the first surgery or the implant itself, and recovery time can be much more drawn-out and painful.
The recall was issued due to the massive number of side effects that were being experienced by patients, and over 35,000 DePuy ASR devices are in circulation in the United States. Lately estimates are predicting that about one out of every eight DePuy ASR patients will have to undergo hip revision surgery, and many more will experience less serious side effects, which are still painful and have an impact on quality of life.

Senate Investigation Could Prompt DePuy Hip Recall

A committee within the United States Senate held a hearing on the 13th of April regarding the approval process of medical devices, many of which are defective when brought to market. This meeting was prompted in part by the recall of DePuy-brand hip replacement systems, which have been defective and faulty in many cases. The Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for devices such as these are under investigation.
The hearing was held before 21 members of the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging, as most of the people affected by the defective DePuy hip replacement systems are somewhat elderly. Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin acted as chairman as the committee discussed the pre-market approval process, part of which allows the Food and Drug Administration to speed devices that are similar to already-approved devices through the approval process. It was through this potential flaw in the process that the DePuy ASR hip replacement system was approved, since it was similar to DePuy’s Pinnacle hip replacement system.
The Food and Drug Administration seems more likely to initiate a recall of of the device in question if the recall process is deemed to be fallible or flawed. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women and Families, was one of the authors of a report published last year that showed devices that were rushed through the approval process based on similarities with another device were much more likely to be faulty. Ms. Zuckerman presented these findings at the Senate’s hearing.
As many as 67 devices that range from pacemakers to hip joints have been reviewed in the expedited process due to similarities with other devices since the Government Accounting Office called for “immediate steps” to reduce the possibility of risk in January of 2009. The Food and Drug Administration has apparently stepped up its overseeing of products, but is still failing to catch many faulty devices.
It is not yet clear what kind of impact this Senate hearing will have on the future of DePuy hip implant lawsuit cases.

DePuy Hip Recall and Multidistrict Litigation

More than 350 plaintiffs have filed suits which have been combined in multidistrict litigation in the DePuy hip replacement cases. These cases will be dealt with on Ohio, where Judge David A. Katz is overseeing the pretrial proceedings. However, more cases have been filed in other courts. There are currently 220 DePuy lawsuits in California, and dozens in New Jersey where the parent company of DePuy, Johnson & Johnson, is located.
Attorneys are still unsure of how the litigation is going to proceed, since there are many cases being filed in different courts, and not all of them are being included in the multidistrict litigation. In addition, experts say, there could be thousands of cases in the DePuy multidistrict lawsuit by the time the first trial begins. This estimate is based on the fact that more than 37,000 people were fitted with the DePuy ASR hip replacement system in America alone, and studies have shown that the system fails in more than 12 percent of recipients within five years.
Another separately conducted study puts the failure rate as almost 50 percent over six years, a staggering statistic when it is taken into account that over 90,000 people worldwide have received this implant.
A motion has been filed with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation which, if passed, would consolidate several DePuy lawsuits, including one of an older device that is similar to the ASR. The Pinnacle hip replacement system is said to have similar design defects of the ASR device. Many DePuy hip lawsuits allege that DePuy knew of potential problems before a recall of the product was issued.
Plaintiffs involved in multidistrict litigation should expect to receive a settlement relatively quickly. While it is true that the legal process is often long and arduous, multidistrict litigation helps to speed cases through the legal system by consolidating pretrial processes in order to expedite legal action.

DePuy Hip Recall Creates Even More Lawsuits

DePuy, who are currently in a legal battle over their ASR hip replacement system, may be facing even more legal issues in the near future – their Pinnacle hip replacement system has been experiencing failures and patients have been enduring side effects, as well. A woman named Catherine Falvey submitted a request on March 25th that these DePuy hip lawsuits be consolidated in the same way the ASR lawsuits are.

DePuy Hip Recall Suits: Time is Running Out

Plaintiffs who are hoping to file a DePuy hip replacement lawsuit may soon run out of time to do so. Legal experts are urging potential plaintiffs to talk to a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Although the end of the statue of limitations period is not imminent, as the DePuy hip recall occurred only a year ago. In most states the statue of limitations is two to three years.
Plaintiffs in states with the two-year statue of limitations period technically have until August 2012 to file their DePuy lawsuit, but for many reasons it would be prudent for the plaintiff to contact a lawyer and begin the litigation process as soon as possible – statues of limitations can be bent in favor of either the plaintiff or the defendant in some cases, and to be safe a plaintiff should not assume the statue of limitations is set in stone.

DePuy Hip Recall Hearing in Florida

A DePuy hip recall hearing took place in Florida during the first week of February 2011. At this hearing, both defense and plaintiff lawyers came close to agreeing on a protocol that would preserve dozens of defective hip implants after being removed from patients. Many of these same patients have filed a DePuy hip lawsuit.
One of the several attorneys for the plaintiffs stated for Bloomberg News: “We hope to come to an agreement on what sort of testing will be done, how it will be done, and what the shipping requirements will be to send the explants from the hospitals to their testing lab or our testing lab.”

DePuy Hip Lawsuits Hinge on Recalled Explants

DePuy Orthopaedics is a subsidiary of corporate giant Johnson & Johnson. In August 2010, DePuy recalled 90,000 of its ASR hip implants after finding that 12 to 13 percent of patients experienced hip implant failure within 5 years. This caused serious hip complications that brought great pain and suffering to the affected patients. Studies conducted more recently have found the failure rate to be closer to 50 percent within 6 years of receiving the implant. These metal-on-metal hip implant devices were designed to function safely for a minimum of 15 years.
Since the recall was announced, lawyers have vocalized concerns about DePuy’s efforts to collect the implants after removal as part of hip revision surgery. This constitutes taking valuable evidence away from patients who may have grounds for filing a DePuy hip lawsuit.
One plaintiff has filed a DePuy hip lawsuit against the device manufacturer, alleging that the company tried to deceive plaintiffs so that they would surrender evidence that could be used against the defendant in court.
On the other side, DePuy does have legitimate reasons for wanting to keep the explants. The manufacturer must determine how and why the devices failed after it had spent millions of dollars on research and development of the implants. Performing tests on removed hip implants is a vital part of determining what caused the high failure rates.
An attorney for Johnson & Johnson made this statement to U.S. District Judge David Katz at the February DePuy hip recall hearing in Florida: “We are committed to working out a protocol that both sides will agree to.”
At the same hearing, the hundreds of DePuy hip lawsuits filed in state courts were also under discussion. Judge Katz showed interest in centralizing a significant portion of these lawsuits together with the consolidated federal lawsuits he is currently overseeing. The following DePuy hip recall hearing was scheduled to take place in Florida later that same month.

DePuy Hip Implants Recalled Worldwide

As greater numbers of people experience complications with their DePuy hip implants, more and more lawsuits are being filed around the world each day.
DePuy is a division of corporate giant Johnson & Johnson, and as of mid-January 2011 hundreds of U.S. citizens had retained a DePuy hip attorney and dozens of those had filed a lawsuit against the device manufacturer. It is expected that the earliest “bellwether” DePuy cases will reach trial sometime in 2012, at which point there may be thousands of plaintiffs.

DePuy Hip Complications Worse than Predicted

Approximately 93,000 individuals worldwide have received a DePuy ASR artificial hip, and about 30,000 of those people are living in the United States. The device was recalled in August 2010, and the recall was initiated because studies determined that the DePuy hip implant had a failure rate twice as high as that of competing devices.
However, many doctors and DePuy hip attorneys say that the faulty device is even more prone to failure than that. Newcastle University conducted a study of 500 Irish hip recipients, and Dr. Thomas Joyce observed a failure rate (due to serious hip complications) of 50% over 6 years. The implant was designed to last 20-25 years without problems.
In Ireland, only 3,500 of DePuy’s ASR devices were implanted in patients, but experts predict that 1,400 of them will require revision surgery to fix hip complications caused by the faulty device.
Somewhere between 1,500 and 4,000 DePuy ASR devices were implanted in Canada, however there is no official implant registry in the United States or Canada. This makes it very difficult to determine precisely how many people will be affected by the DePuy hip implant recall.

DePuy Hip Problems May Entail Revision Surgery

The most serious hip complications caused by the defective DePuy device include fracture of the hipbone, dislocation of the hip implant, and loosening of the hip implant. Any of these will require a costly and painful operation to replace the implant—a procedure more involved and dangerous than the original surgery.
As for patients who are able to keep their original implant, they can still suffer an array of unpleasant complications even though these problems may not be severe enough to necessitate a hip revision surgery right away. Anyone who received a DePuy implant is at risk of contracting metallosis, especially cobalt and chromium toxicity, which is linked to the development of tumors and cancer. Metallosis, also known as metal poisoning, can lead to such serious damage that a revision surgery may not even be possible.
Any individual affected by the DePuy hip recall is advised to consult their physician and a DePuy hip attorney as soon as possible. It is important to learn as much as possible about dealing with any existing complications, testing for complications that may occur, and filing a lawsuit against DePuy.