A Pennsylvania resident has joined the multidistrict litigation against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics, alleging the hip implant manufacturers failed to adequately warn consumers about the risks and side effects of their ASR replacement hip implant device.

Plaintiff Victor S. has filed a hip replacement lawsuit, claiming he suffered injuries directly related to Depuy’s negligent manufacturing of the ASR hip implant. According to his metal hip implant lawsuit, Victor underwent left hip replacement surgery in December 2009, at which time he received the Depuy ASR metal hip implant. He claims after the implantation of the metal hip implant that he suffered hip implant complications, including increased stiffness and pain and difficulty walking. He was later diagnosed with elevated cobalt blood levels and needed the device removed through hip revision surgery in October 2014.

Victor alleges DePuy knew of the risks of the replacement hip, but continued to aggressively manufacture and market the device without adequate warnings, testing, or approval. Victor filed his ASR hip implant lawsuit as a short form complaint for inclusion into the larger multidistrict litigation titled In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division.

DePuy Hip Recall

In August 2010, DePuy issued a worldwide recall of its ASR hip implant, after data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales showed that 1 out of every 8 patients (12-13 percent) who had received the devices had to undergo hip revision surgery within five years of receiving it. Prior to the recall, roughly 93,000 defective ASR hip implants were sold by DePuy and implanted in patients in the United States and abroad.

The ASR metal hip implant is considered by a number of orthopedic experts to be a defective product because of its high failure rate when compared with other hip replacement devices.  However, the DePuy hip recall is considered to have come way too late by some orthopedic experts since the ASR hip implant recall follows more than two years of complaints from patients who needed costly and painful hip revision surgery within a few years of receiving the ASR hip implant.

DePuy Hip Lawsuits

An increasing number of ASR hip implant lawsuits continue to be filed nationwide. The ASR metal hip implant claimants allege many hip implant complications, including thigh pain, difficulty walking, lesions, pseudotumor, and metallosis. Patients who received the recalled ASR hip implant may be entitled to participate in a DePuy hip lawsuit to recover financial compensation for damages incurred as a result of being implanted with a defective DePuy hip implant product. Lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering are among the damages ASR hip implant patients may be entitled to receive.

The DePuy ASR Hip Implant 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.