A federal judge has extended the deadline for patients implanted with the recalled DePuy ASR hip replacement to enroll in a $2.475 billion settlement program through Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of DePuy Orthopaedics. Eligible individuals now have until Sept. 30, 2014 to potentially claim $250,000 or more from the DePuy ASR Hip Settlement Program. The previous claim deadline was April 1.

To determine if you are eligible for the U.S. DePuy Hip Settlement Program, you must:

1. Be a U.S. citizen or U.S. legal resident;

2. Have undergone hip replacement surgery and were implanted with an ASR XL Acetabular Hip System, ASR 300Acetabular Cup System, or ASR Hip Resurfacing System (“ASR Implant”) at a U.S. Hospital or U.S. Military Hospital;

3. Have had the DePuy ASR hip implant in place for at least 180 days; and

4. Have undergone hip revision surgery to remove the cup of the ASR Implant for reasons related to the recall on or before Aug. 31, 2013.

To be included in the U.S. program, you must enroll by Sept. 30, submit all of the required paperwork, and meet the eligibility requirements.

Questions about this process can be answered by a DePuy hip recall lawyer. You may obtain a free and confidential consultation with one by filling out the form on the right. If you meet the qualifications for the DePuy ASR Hip Settlement Program, a DePuy hip recall attorney will contact you using the information you provide.

Background on the DePuy Hip Recall MDL

The ASR Acetabular Cup System, manufactured and sold by Johnson & Johnson and DePuy, is a metal-on-metal hip implant that became widely used in hip replacement suergery. Since 2005, when the FDA approved the ASR hip implant product for use and sale within the U.S., DePuy and J&J allegedly marketed their product aggressively to doctors and also directly to patients.

However, after a few months on the market, a number of consumer and medical reports were filed alleging that ASR hip implants were prone to failure. Between 2006 and 2009, the FDA received over 600 adverse event reports that detailed how the DePuy hip implants failed in a high percentage of hip implant patients, causing severe pain  and requiring immediate removal and replacement of the ASR product. Traditional hip implant products are designed to last over a decade, but the consumer and medical reports claim that the DePuy ASR hip replacement system tended to fail a few short months after implantation.

Due to the bad publicity and pressure from the FDA, DePuy instituted a voluntary recall of the ASR hip replacement system in August 2010. All patients, even those that claimed they did not experience pain or hip replacement complications, were advised to have the metal hip implant removed and replaced because of the high possibility of failure, resulting in other injuries.

These hip replacement complications included:

• Hip implant failure, necessitating revision surgery
• Dislocated hip
• Metallosis (metal blood poisoning)
• Cancer
• Degenerative heart disease or cardiomyopathy
• Loss of bone strength, resulting in bone fractures
• Tissue death surrounding the implant
• Non-cancerous tumors or pseudotumors around the hip implant

Thousands of personal injury lawsuits were filed against Johnson & Johnson following the DePuy ASR hip recall. These hip recall lawsuits were consolidated into multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Norther District of Ohio.

J&J and DePuy have denied any wrongdoing in their marketing, manufacture, and sale of the DePuy ASR hip replacement system, but agreed to a $2.475 billion settlement to avoid the uncertainty of going to trial and increased legal fees.

The DePuy ASR Hip MDL is In re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc, ASR Hip Implant  Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2197, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Western Division.