Following a recall surrounding DePuy hip implants, numerous patients have filed lawsuits against the company in the hopes of reaching a DePuy ASR hip settlement.

There has been an ever increasing number of patients receiving hip replacement surgeries in recent years, and at least half a million Americans have undergone hip replacement surgeries to date.

However, a massive recall of Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy ASR hip implant was announced by the company in August 2010.

Allegations surrounding DePuy hip implants include patients suffering from a dislocated hip; cancer; the leaking of toxic substances, such as cobalt and chromium into the bloodstream from the hip; degenerative heart disease, also known as cardiomyopathy; loss of bone strength leading to bone fractures; metallosis or metal poisoning; non-cancerous tumors; as well as other severe side effects and complications.

Overview: DePuy Hip Implants

There have been reports of severe side effects and complications surrounding Depuy hip implants, a metal-on-metal hip replacement device. The device is known as the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular Cup component, part of a system designed to replace a patient’s hip joint. The acetabular cup is comprised and designed of a cobalt-chrome-molybdenum (CoCrMo) metal.

Although the DePuy hip implant was advertised as safe and durable, adverse event reports suggest it turned out to be not as safe and effective as device makers advertised, leading to the 2010 recall.

Many patients implanted with the ASR XL Acetabular hip model say they have experienced a number of  severe complications and adverse side effects leading them to undergo revision surgery. Some of these side effects have included the premature failure to the hip implant leading to revision surgery and other complications.

Plaintiffs who have filed DePuy hip implants lawsuit allege that the product was defectively designed, citing studies that have shown that metal-on-metal hip replacement devices have high failure rates because of severe side effects. These include complications such as metallosis, infection, immobility, and dislocation.

Allegations being filed against the company include counts of negligence, fraud, gross negligence, malice, and of them willfully concealing risks of side effects associated with the device. Other allegations against the company also accuse them of failing to warn consumers of adverse complications with DePuy hip implants.

DePuy’s voluntary ASR hip implant recall was announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Aug. 24, 2010. The recall affected nearly 93,000 ASR hip implants from around the world and 37,000 devices recalled from the U.S.

The recall was issued following the release of data from the UK joint registry, advising that 13 percent of DePuy ASR hip implants would require revision surgery much earlier than expected. These adverse side effects are similar to complications associated with another metal-on-metal hip implant, the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement.

Currently, there are nearly 8,000 lawsuits being filed against Johnson & Johnson over the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System and the DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System. J&J agreed to a $600,000 settlement to be paid in the first three DePuy hip implants lawsuits.

Each plaintiff received $200,000 from the settlement. Patients who have undergone revision surgery since March 2015 to remove a DePuy ASR implant may be entitled to receive compensation due to similar injuries and side effects suffered.