Litigation Continues on Epidemic of Hip Implant Failures | Dallas-Fort Worth Legal Examiner | Dallas-Fort Worth Texas Personal Injury Lawyer

A plaintiffs lawyer reports on the hip implant litigation against Johnson & Johnson, manufacturer of metal-on-metal prostheses.  J&J has settled the ASR model cases, but not the Pinnacle model cases.  In a dramatic win for the company in October 2014 a Dallas federal court jury rejected a claim in a trial presented by premier plaintiffs lawyer Mark Lanier.  Ten cases have been selected for bellwether trials. - gwc

Epidemic of Hip Implant Failures | Dallas-Fort Worth Legal Examiner | Dallas-Fort Worth Texas Personal Injury Lawyer

by Shezad Malik, MD, JD

The epidemic of premature metal on metal hip implant failure continues surge at an alarming rate. DePuy ASR, DePuy Pinnacle, Biomet Magnum, Smith and Nephew, Wright Conserve, Zimmer Durom cup and Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II, are among hip replacements that continue to fail prematurely and require painful and risky revision surgery.

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Latest $2.5M Oklahoma Jury Verdict

Andrea Smith, from Oklahoma has been awarded $2.5 million after suffering metal blood poisoning from DePuy ASR hip replacements. The state court jury found the DePuy ASR hip to be defective and unreasonably dangerous.

Smith, received ASR hip implants on each side in October 2006 and February 2007. According to Smith, she had to undergo revision surgery to have the implants removed in 2011 and 2012, after high levels of Cobalt and Chromium metal ions were found in her blood.

More Than 7,700 J&J DePuy Pinnacle Hip Lawsuits

J&J is continues to deny, delay and defend thousands of cases involving similar metallosis and premature failure problems from the DePuy Pinnacle hip. The DePuy Pinnacle is an older model that features a substantially similar metal-on-metal design.

There are currently more than 7,700 DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuits pending throughout the U.S. In the federal court system, as of 7/15/2015, all complaints involving problems with DePuy Pinnacle implants are centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas under U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade as part of a multidistrict lawsuit (MDL).

DePuy Pinnacle Bellwether Trials

The Dallas court has identified ten different cases that have been selected to be prepared for early trial dates. These early trials are known as “bellwether” cases. The trials help the parties gauge how juries may respond to similar evidence and testimony that is repeated throughout the litigation.

The consolidated federal case is In re DePuy Orthopedics Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, 10-MD-2197, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (Toledo).