Many patients who have severe hip pain or loss of mobility in their hips opt for a hip replacement procedure. For some patients, this is the last resort after trying everything else to alleviate constant pain.

However, some patients who have been implanted with DePuy hip implants have complained of severe complications associated with their hip replacement devices. Many of these patients who have received DePuy hip implants have also filed lawsuits and collected settlement money from DePuy as a result of their injuries.

There are many life-altering complications that have been reported by patients with DePuy hip implants. These include heightened risks of cancer from metals that have leaked and shed from metal-on-metal implants, cardiomyopathy (a degenerative heart disease), pseudotumors at the joint site (non-cancerous tumors that can cause pain and inflammation) and the need for revision surgery due to early failure.

One of the most controversial of the DePuy hip implants, the ASR, was approved for use in 2005. However, in 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made the public aware that DePuy had issued a massive recall for nearly 100,000 DePuy hip implants, notably, the ASR model.

Thirty-seven thousand of these DePuy hip implants have been implanted in American patients, with the remainder on the international market.

These DePuy hip implants were a part of a group of hip replacements and large diameter hip resurfacing systems that were created out of single sheets of metal.

These devices were recalled after DePuy looked at reports from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales that noted that these DePuy hip implants were failing at a higher-than-normal rate. Additionally, both the British Hip Society and the British Orthopaedic Association reported higher rates of failure as well for DePuy hip implants.

By 2013, Johnson & Johnson had allotted about $4 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits regarding DePuy hip implants.

Other problems surrounding the ASR DePuy hip implants include dislocated hip, failure of the hip implant altogether, leaking of chromium and cobalt into the bloodstream, cancer, loss of bone strength, fractures, tissue death and blood poisoning.

Currently, there are about 8,000 pending lawsuits regarding ASR DePuy hip implants.

Other Problems with DePuy Hip Implants

It wasn’t just the ASR model that was allegedly faulty. The DePuy Pinnacle implant has also been the subject of lawsuits. Patients claim that the Ultima metal liner failed in their Pinnacle implants, and a study performed in 2010 found that this liner failed in 14 percent of implants.

When doctors went in to perform revision surgery on patients with Pinnacle implants, they reported finding significant tissue death (necrosis), ruptured tendons, and cloudy fluid in pockets near the hip implant.

In these cases, the metal of the liner and the hip implant itself rubbed together and shed metal pieces into the surrounding tissue. This may cause a condition known as metallosis, or metal poisoning.

However, surprisingly, the Pinnacle DePuy hip implants were never recalled.

Filing an ASR DePuy Hip Implants Lawsuit

If you have been implanted with an DePuy ASR hip implant and have suffered severe complications, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit or eligible to recover damages from the current ASR settlement.

Navigating the ASR settlement can be difficult, so speaking with an experienced attorney can be a benefit to you. While legal compensation cannot take away the pain and suffering that you may have experienced with an ASR hip replacement system, it can help to alleviate medical costs and lost wages.