Couple Sues DePuy, Claiming Defective Hip Replacement

Getting a hip implant is challenging enough—the risk of the surgery itself, the recovery period, and of course the medical costs that can quickly add up even when a person has insurance. There are a number of hip replacement devices which qualify for a hip implant class action lawsuit, including the DePuy Pinnacle Acetubular Cup and the Pinnacle Device Replacement System.

On Nov. 1, 2013, Roland and Joyce Cagnon filed their hip replacement lawsuit after months of dealing with a defective system. The couple says, “As a result of the inadequate testing of the Pinnacle Device that was sold by Defendants and implanted in Mr. Cagnon, this Plaintiff has suffered, and continues to suffer, serious bodily injury and has incurred, and continues to incur, medical expenses to treat his injuries and condition.”

Unfortunately, it’s often more difficult to recover from a revision surgery than it is an initial surgery— putting the couple at an even greater risk than they originally faced.

Like most other hip replacement devices targeted in lawsuits, the Pinnacle system features metal on metal components which have a high tendency to erode and flake off metal pieces into the bloodstream  which can cause metal poisoning.

“Defendants did not seek premarket approval from the FDA, and thus the FDA made no finding that the Pinnacle Device was safe or effective for the product’s intended purpose,” states the Cagnon’s DePuy hip lawsuit. Metal poisoning impacts every person differently. Some people have no symptoms at all, while others are in constant pain—however, getting a correct diagnosis can be tricky. A doctor has to specifically test for metal poisoning, and many of the symptoms can be mistaken for the body’s attempt to heal post-surgery. If it’s not caught in time, metal poisoning can be deadly.

Would the couple be in this mess had the Food and Drug Administration intervened? According to their lawsuit:

“The Pinnacle Device is a Class III medical device. Class III devices are those that operate to sustain human life, are of substantial importance in preventing impairment of human health, or pose potentially unreasonable risks to patients. The Medical Device Amendments to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938 (‘MDA’), in theory, require Class III medical devices, including the Pinnacle Device, to undergo premarket approval by the FDA, a process which obligates the manufacturer to design and implement a clinical investigation and to submit the results of that investigation to the FDA.”

So how did Pinnacle get around these requirements? It’s simple: “A medical device on the market prior to the effective date of the MDA — a so- called ‘grandfathered’ device — was not required to undergo premarket approval,” the DePuy hip lawsuit explains.

However, that’s no excuse when a company knows their device prematurely fails and chooses to do nothing.

“Not long after DePuy launched the Pinnacle Device, reports of failures began flooding into DePuy,” states the Cagnon’s hip replacement lawsuit, going on to cite numerous instances of patients notifying the company of the defective nature of the device. “Despite its knowledge that the Pinnacle Device had a defect and that it had failed hundreds of times, causing hundreds of patients to undergo the agony of another surgery, DePuy continued to sell the defective hip implant. In so doing, DePuy actively concealed the known defect from doctors and patients — including Roland N. Cagnon and his doctor — and misrepresented that the Pinnacle Device was a safe and effective medical device.”

DePuy Concealed Hip Failure Problems

The Cagnons and their doctors had no idea that Pinnacle was prone to premature failure since DePuy never increased the warnings, they say. According to their lawsuit:

“On or about Jan. 14, 2008, Plaintiff Roland N. Cagnon underwent a total hip replacement procedure on his right hip which was performed by Dr. Thomas F. Bliss, Jr. at Rhode Island Hospital, in Providence, Rhode Island. Dr. Bliss implanted a DePuy acetabular cup and a Pinnacle metal insert in place of Mr. Cagnon’s right hip. By this time, Defendants had already received over 600 reports that the Pinnacle Device had failed and they knew that the product was defective, but Defendants refused to disclose that information to Mr. Cagnon, his physicians or the public. After undergoing the hip replacement surgery, the Plaintiff experienced pain and weakness in his hip area, accompanied with leg jerking at night when sleeping. Mr. Cagnon has sought medical attention for these issues, and his treatment is ongoing.”

When one spouse is hurt, the other is of course impacted, too.

“As a direct and proximate result of the failure of the defective Pinnacle Device and Defendants’ wrongful conduct, Mr. Cagnon’s wife, Joyce L. Cagnon, has been and will continue to be deprived of the consortium, society, comfort, protection, and service of his wife, thereby causing and continuing to cause Joyce L. Cagnon economic damages, grief, sorrow, mental anguish, emotional distress, and pain and suffering.”

The couple is suing DePuy for negligence, manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of warranties, fraud, violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Acts, punitive damages and loss of consortium.

The case is Roland N. Cagnon and Joyce L. Cagnon v. DePuy Orthopedics Inc. et al, MDL No.: 3:11-MD-2244-K, in the United States District Court Northern District of Texas.

Help for Hip Replacement Injury Victims

If you or a loved received a metal on metal hip implant after January 1, 2009, and went to experience hip replacement complications such as dislocated hip, metal poisoning, cancer, tissue death, pain or other injury, there’s still time to take legal action against the device manufacturer. These companies have already paid out millions of dollars to victims. Don’t delay – see if you qualify to pursue compensation to cover your medical bills, pain and suffering and other damages at the Metal on Metal Hip Replacement Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.