A DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit was filed by a Connecticut resident who underwent total hip replacement surgery to implant two metal-on-metal DePuy Pinnacle hips into his body.

The plaintiff then allegedly experienced several painful and debilitating injuries as a result of the DePuy Pinnacle metal hips. Defendants DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. and Johnson & Johnson were accused of being aware of the problems.

John G. underwent hip replacement surgery on Jan. 22, 2007. Both the left and right hips were replaced with the metal-on-metal DePuy Pinnacle. The new hip replacements allegedly caused the plaintiff to experience severe injuries to his bilateral hip joints including, “erosion of the acetabulum, femur and surrounding structures, resulting in severe pain and a limp; metallosis; fluid buildup in his bilateral hips, requires aspiration; pain and mental anguish,” according to the hip replacement lawsuit.
John underwent revision hip replacement surgery on Feb. 12, 2013. Revision surgeries are considered to be more complicated and have a higher risk of failure because there is less bone, by this point, for the surgeon to work with. 

DePuy Pinnacle Flaws

The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit made several allegations against the defendants. The plaintiff claimed that the DePuy Pinnacle was not adequately tested. The DePuy hip replacements were metal-on-metal, which is allegedly a poor design choice.

Because of this flaw, metal rubbed against metal with weight and pressure from the body, causing metal shavings to be released into the body. That has allegedly led  hundreds to undergo revision surgery. The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit claimed adequate testing would have revealed this flaw.

The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit also claimed that the DePuy Pinnacle was never officially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Instead, it was able to be legally sold because the defendants told the FDA the DePuy Pinnacle was “substantially equivalent” to other hip replacement products. The FDA granted approval on this ground, and the defendants did not run the product through clinical trials.

Metal-on-metal total hip replacements have been considered dangerous by many doctors. In Britain, doctors are required to monitor the cobalt and chromium ion levels in the blood of patients who underwent metal-on-metal hip replacement. The DePuy Pinnacle was withdrawn in Australia due to high failure rates.

The FDA finally required post-marketing studies on metal-on-metal devices in May 2011.

In August 2010, the defendants recalled over 90,000 DePuy ASR metal-on-metal hip replacement systems due to high failure rates. However, they have also said that the DePuy ASR was “substantially equivalent” to the DePuy Pinnacle, according to the DePuy lawsuit, but failed to issue a recall on DePuy Pinnacle systems.

The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit alleged that the defendants were aware of the DePuy Pinnacle flaws since 2006, but the plaintiff was not aware of the problems until December 2012.

John accused the defendants of producing and selling DePuy Pinnacle hips that were defective, dangerous, and not properly tested. He also alleged that the defendants were, or should have been, aware of the DePuy Pinnacle’s safety flaws and failed to warn and recall the product.

The DePuy Pinnacle has been the subject of many hip implant lawsuits and class action lawsuits. Plaintiffs have already won hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements.

This DePuy Pinnacle Lawsuit is Case No. 3:13-cv-02219, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.