Paul Tassin  |  April 27, 2015

Category: Legal News

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Metal Hip Implant LawsuitBarbara E. and Charles G., a married couple from Pennsylvania, have joined the multidistrict litigation pending over the ASR hip implants produced by Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy unit.

Barbara had a DePuy ASR metal hip implant placed in her right hip in August 2008 and another in her right hip in November 2008. She alleges that these hip implants have resulted in multiple medical complications including synovitis, mechanical failure, metallosis, and the need for revision surgery, as well as pain, emotional consequences, additional medical expenses, loss of earnings, and loss of future earning capacity. At the time she filed her DePuy hip lawsuit, Barbara still had both hip implants in place, but was scheduling to have both of them removed.

DePuy ASR Metal Hip Implants

The ASR hip implant was first sold in the United States in 2005. It was supposed to have a service life of 20 years and offer greater range of motion than other hip implants on the medical device market. However, many of these metal-on-metal hip implants allegedly failed not long after implantation, causing pain and dislocations. Also, the metal-on-metal hip implants reportedly had a tendency to shed chromium and cobalt into the bloodstream, resulting in metallosis in some implant recipients. Some implants had to be surgically removed in order to stave off hip implant side effects, some of which can be permanent.

In 2010, Johnson & Johnson recalled 93,000 of these ASR hip implants. The company stated that 12 percent of these implants failed within five years, though Johnson & Johnson internal documents showed the failure rate was closer to 37 percent within 4.6 years.

In 2013, Johnson & Johnson agreed to settle over 7,500 hip implant lawsuits for a total of $2.5 billion. More recently, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay as much as $420 million more to about 1,400 other claimants who were not originally included in the 2013 hip implant settlement agreement. It’s estimated the total value of all settlements over the ASR hip implants will be over $4 billion.

Some plaintiffs have sought a better deal by opting out of settlement and pursuing individual DePuy hip implant lawsuits. One California plaintiff whose hip implant lawsuit went to trial received an $8.3 million jury verdict in 2013.

Barbara’s claims against DePuy include negligence, defective design and manufacture, failure to warn, breach of warranty, misrepresentation, concealment of vital information, fraud, violation of state laws against unfair and deceptive trade practices, and infliction of emotional distress. She seeks compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost earnings and earning capacity, medical monitoring, and attorneys’ fees. She also asks for punitive damages against DePuy and reimbursement of DePuy’s profits made from Barbara’s hip implants.

Both Barbara and Charles are bringing claims for loss of consortium, which would compensate them for the effect of the hip implant side effects on their marital relationship.

Barbara and Charles’s DePuy hip lawsuit is part of the hip implant multidistrict litigation, or MDL, now pending in Ohio federal court. This metal hip implant MDL is a consolidation of individual lawsuits that share common factual issues and similar products liability claims about the DePuy ASR metal hip implant.

The DePuy Metal Hip MDL is In re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1:10-md-2197, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The hip implant attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or class action lawsuit is best for you. [In general, metal hip implant lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.] Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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If you or a loved one had a metal-on-metal hip implant that failed or caused serious complications, you may be entitled to compensation. Hip replacement lawsuits are being filed now against multiple companies, including Stryker, Biomet, DePuy, Zimmer, and Wright. See if you qualify to take legal action by filling out the form below.

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Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement administrator or law firm. Top Class Actions is a legal news source that reports on class action lawsuits, class action settlements, drug injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits. Top Class Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the status of any class action settlement claim. You must contact the settlement administrator or your attorney for any updates regarding your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are expected to be mailed out.