DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. faces a new ASR hip lawsuit in Ohio federal court filed by a couple joining a growing multidistrict litigation (MDL) against the company for problems with their hip replacement device.

The ASR hip lawsuit, filed on July 26, 2018 by Plaintiffs Richard and Denise W., demands a trial by jury.

According to the ASR hip lawsuit, Richard says that he was implanted with a DePuy ASR hip implant on his on his left side on June 17, 2008, and again with his right hip on or about Oct. 8, 2008, at Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, Fla.

Due to adverse side effects and complications, he claims, the right side implant was explanted on Feb. 12, 2018. His left hip implant was also removed months later on June 4, 2018, at Florida Hospital Celebration.

Richard says that he could not have known that the injuries he suffered were due to an allegedly defective device until ASR hip implants started being recalled off market shelves. He alleges he did not know that he was implanted with a defective device until he had his blood drawn and was informed of the excessive levels of chromium and cobalt levels in his bloodstream, indicative of a faulty and defective device.

The ASR hip lawsuit was filed on multiple counts including negligence, negligence per se, defective design, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of express warranty, breach of warranty as to merchantability, breach of implied warranties, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and deceit, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and misrepresentation by omission. Denise claims damages as a result of loss of consortium.

Overview: Filing an ASR Hip Lawsuit

Thousands of ASR hips have been implanted and ASR hip lawsuits filed by victims who suffered severe adverse side effects and complications after using DePuy’s ASR metal-on-metal hip replacement device.

Adverse side effects that have required patients to either undergo revision surgery or explant the device altogether have included:

• Pseudotumors or non-cancerous tumors surrounding the hip implant
• Metal poisoning, or metallosis, which includes the presence of chromium or cobalt particles in the bloodstream or surrounding tissue
• Death of tissue
• Bone fractures due to bone strength loss or structure
• Cancer
• Cardiomyopathy or Degenerative Heart Disease
• Hip Dislocation
• Metal hip implant failure resulting in explantation and early hip replacement surgery, which carries its own risks

The DePuy hip replacement voluntary recall was announced by the company, a division of Johnson & Johnson, in August 2010. The recall was announced after a study from the U.K. found that the ASR hip replacement device fails as often as 49 percent of the time. Due to a high number of complaints about the device, many experts state that the recall should have been announced much sooner.

The ASR Hip Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-dp-20059-JJH, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division. The DePuy MDL is In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1:10-md-2197, in the same court.