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| Richard Meadow of the Lanier Law Firm |
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| Ellen Relkin of Weitz Luxenberg |
Metal on metal - a grinding problem - has led to many complaints among those who have had the devices implanted. Plaintiffs lawyers like Ellen Relkin and Richard Meadow (with whom I worked on the Vioxx litigation) are taking on a big fight against the medical device manufacturers who have implanted hundreds of thousands such devices in the hips of patients suffering from falls, or arthritis. According to an October 31 report in the National Law Journal the litigation is just getting rolling. - GWC
On May 6, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which regulates medical devices, ordered 21 manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip implants to conduct surveillance on their products and to assess the safety of the devices. DePuy, based in Warsaw, Ind., initiated a voluntary recall of all its ASR devices after fresh data in the United Kingdom indicated that the rate of patients who had to return to surgery within five years — the revision rate — was 12 to 13 percent. That was much higher than the industry standard, according to the FDA. DePuy recalled two devices: The ASR XL acetabular hip system, introduced to the U.S. market in 2005, and the ASR hip-resurfacing system, which was not sold in the United States.
More than 2,200 cases involving the devices are pending in a federal multidistrict proceeding in Toledo, Ohio. Another 1,000 are pending in state courts in California and 160 in New Jersey's state courts.
There is growing number of DePuy Asr Lawsuit has been increasing. The wear and tear of the prosthesis causes a build-up of metal debris in the body that leads to metallosis. Pain is the first thing that would be felt by the person. Tissue degeneration is already happening inside and would lead to necrosis or tissue death.
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