A new DePuy hip implant failure lawsuit has been filed against the manufacturers of the device, DePuy Orthopaedics, and that company’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, by a man purporting he suffered serious bodily injury and adverse effects due to a Pinnacle defective hip implant.

Plaintiff Kenneth C. joins an increasing multidistrict litigation (MDL) filed against the companies. He filed the DePuy hip implant failure lawsuit in Texas federal court on Dec. 18, 2017.

Kenneth, a resident and citizen of the state of Maryland, says that he underwent a left total hip arthroplasty procedure on Aug. 10, 2010. The Pinnacle device was implanted along with an Ultamet liner in his left hip.

However, Kenneth later had to have the Pinnacle device removed in September 2017, after suffering from large amounts of toxic cobalt-chromium metal ions released into surrounding tissue, bone, and his bloodstream, the DePuy hip implant failure lawsuit states.

According to the DePuy hip implant failure lawsuit, “friction and wear between the cobalt-chromium metal head and cobalt-chromium metal liner caused large amounts of toxic cobalt-chromium metal ions and particles to be released …”

Kenneth alleges he suffered adverse effects including pain, discomfort, inflammation, and difficulty moving in or out of a seated position.

According to the DePuy hip implant failure lawsuit, “[h]ad Defendants not concealed the known defects, the early failure rate, the known complications and the unreasonable risks associated with the use of the Pinnacle Device … [Kenneth] would not have consented to the Pinnacle Device being used in his total hip arthroplasty.”

The DePuy hip implant failure lawsuit was filed on multiple counts including negligence, manufacturing defect, design defect, inadequate warning, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud.

DePuy Hip Implant Failure Lawsuit Joins MDL

Kenneth’s claim is filed as part of a large multidistrict litigation centered on allegations that the Pinnacle Acetabular System is prone to releasing toxic levels of metal particles into patients’ bloodstream and surrounding bone and tissue, leading to other serious injuries and complications.

Other reported adverse effects include degenerative heart disease, premature failure of the device, inflammation, swelling, pain, and development of non-cancerous tumors.

Pinnacle Acetabular Hip Replacement System

The Pinnacle Acetabular Hip Replacement System is a device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000.

The Pinnacle metal-on-metal components, approved by the FDA, were based on an already approved product through the agency’s 510(k) fast track approval system. Through the FDA’s 510(k) process, a medical device may skip mandatory testing if a predicate device, similar in nature, already passed the approval system.

The Pinnacle system several types of ball-and-socket surface combinations, one of which is metal-on-metal. However, plaintiffs say the design of the device proved defective, as the Pinnacle metal liners cause friction between the ball-shaped replacement head and the cup. Thousands of hip implant lawsuits were filed against DePuy involving the Pinnacle implant.

The DePuy Hip Implant Failure Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-03436-K, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. The Pinnacle Hip Implant MDL is In re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3:11-MD-2244-K, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.