There is hope for hip implant consumers whose DePuy ASR hip replacement failed and required a hip revision surgery in order to correct the damage.  The manufacturer has agreed to extend the qualifying date for Class Members’ revision surgery until Jan. 31, 2015. This means that potentially thousands of patients who recently underwent hip revision surgery for a defective DePuy ASR hip implant and were previously excluded from monetary relief because they did not have the product removed before the Aug. 31, 2013 deadline will now be included in the DePuy hip replacement settlement.

According to the original DePuy ASR hip implant settlement, the product manufacturers Johnson & Johnson and DePuy Orthopaedics had agreed to settle close to 8,000 ASR hip implant lawsuits involving individuals whose DePuy ASR hip implant had failed, necessitating a hip revision surgery to remove and replace the DePuy product. However, to be considered a qualifying Class Member, consumers would have had to undergo the hip revision surgery prior to Aug. 31, 2013, excluding several thousand hip replacement lawsuits and leaving thousands of plaintiffs’ hip implant defect claims unresolved.

On Feb. 20, in the wake of a DePuy status conference regarding the DePuy hip implant settlement agreement, lawyers from all parties involved in the DePuy hip implant cases informed the presiding federal judge that an agreement had been reached to extend the DePuy hip replacement settlement program. The new hip implant settlement agreement would include all U.S. citizens and residents who had undergone a hip revision surgery to remove a defective ASR hip implant on or prior to Jan. 31 of this year.

According to the original terms of the ASR hip replacement settlement, each plaintiff will, on average, receive $250,000 for the pain and suffering experienced because of the defective DePuy product. However, payment will vary depending on the age and weight of the plaintiff, length of time he or she had the implant, and other health factors.

Plaintiffs and Class Members who allegedly suffered extreme injuries, including hip revision surgery complications, may also receive additional monetary compensation and coverage of medical expenses from J&J and DePuy.

DePuy ASR Hip Implant Lawsuits

The ASR Acetabular Cup System is a metal-on-metal hip implant that has become quite popular in the hip replacement market. However, between 2006 and 2009, the FDA received over 600 adverse event reports, detailing how the DePuy hip implants failed in a high percentage of hip implant patients. The hip implant failures allegedly caused consumers severe pain and required immediate removal and replacement of the ASR product.

In August 2010, the DePuy ASR hip implant system was recalled, and the high failure rate was said to have been caused by the product’s metal-on-metal hip replacement design. The metal-on-metal design causes the metal components to rub off against each other, allegedly releasing microscopic metal debris into a patient’s body and blood stream. Since then, the thousands of ASR hip implant civil action and class action lawsuits were consolidated into one DePuy Hip Implant MDL. As of last year, DePuy agreed to a hip implant class action settlement, which originally included over 8,000, but now because of the recent deadline extension could potentially number in the hundreds of thousands.

Even after the ASR hip implant recall, there are still thousands of patients who still have the hip replacement product installed and who have not undergone hip revision surgery to remove it. These patients may decide to pursue other hip implant lawsuits against DePuy and J&J because of injuries and damages incurred due to the defective ASR hip replacement product.