Numerous patients have been implanted with the DePuy ASR hip system, which has been the subject of a massive recall and of many product liability claims.

According to these claims, the DePuy ASR hip system failed and forced numerous patients to undergo revision surgery to fix metal hip implant complications.

The DePuy ASR hip system is a metal on metal hip implant, which is typically prescribed to patients suffering from hip deteriorating from disease or damage from traumatic injury. The DePuy ASR hip system was approved by the FDA in 2005, through the agency’s 510(k) program.

This means the medical device was allowed to go to market without intense pre-clinical testing, because it proved to have worked at an equivalent level with a similar product already on the market. The DePuy ASR hip system is supposed to restore hip function for the patient, while lasting a fair amount of years before needing replaced.

However, a number of patients have been reporting serious injury reports for years in conjunction with the DePuy ASR hip system, with the FDA receiving up to 400 complaints since 2008.

Overview of DePuy ASR Hip System Recall

In March 2010, Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics admitted the DePuy ASR hip system device failure reportedly occurred in 12% of hip implant patients and that these patients would need to undergo revision surgery.

These complications eventually spurred DePuy to initiate a voluntary recall of the DePuy ASR hip system on Aug. 24, 2010, in which 37,000 DePuy ASR hip implants in the United States were recalled and 93,000 worldwide.

The recall was initiated due in part to data released from the United Kingdom joint registry, which found that 13% of patients who had the DePuy ASR hip system implanted required revision surgery due to serious hip implant complications.

The metal hip implant complications mentioned in injury reports include but are not limited to:

• Metallosis (Blood Metal Poisoning)
• Formation of Pseudotumors
• Fretting
• Swelling
• Fracture
• Corrosion
• Tissue Death
• Debilitating Pain
• Infection

These metal hip implant complications often forced patients to undergo revision surgery, which is considered riskier than the initial implant procedure. However, if these problems are not treated, patients run the risk of toxic debris entering their bloodstream and causing a variety of health problems like degenerative heart disease or cancer.

For this reason, Johnson & Johnson has faced approximately 8,000 metal hip implant lawsuits from patients alleging they had to undergo revision surgery due to the DePuy ASR hip system.

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to settle the first round of metal hip implant lawsuits regarding patients who received the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System, with the company announcing it would pay $600,000 to settle three claims.

More recently, there is a settlement offer for patients who had to undergo revision surgery after March 2015, allegedly due to the defective nature of their DePuy ASR hip system.

Patients who opted to file legal action against Johnson & Johnson allege the company either knew or should have known about the defective nature of the DePuy ASR hip system and its potential for device failure.