A DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement lawsuit alleges the implant failed due to its faulty design.

The hip implant contains four components, including a metal femoral stem that is inserted inside the femur bone. A metal femoral head (ball) connects to the other end of the stem. That femoral head rotates within the metal acetabulum shell (socket) against a metal liner.

Plaintiff Jerry L. underwent right side hip replacement surgery on Aug. 2, 2011. According to his DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement lawsuit, “he has suffered significant discomfort, pain, stiffness, and loss of motion” and was forced to endure a revision surgery on Aug. 15, 2016.

Jerry underwent a second right hip revision surgery on Sept. 14, 2016 “due to the defective DePuy hip implant.”

The DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement lawsuit alleges the company “concealed the known defects, the early failure rate, the known complications and the unreasonable risks associated with the use of the Pinnacle device.”

DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacement Lawsuit Points to Metal Issues

The DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement lawsuit alleges the company should have been aware of the possibilities of metallosis (metal poisoning) and the susceptibility to loosening or dislocation.

Instead of warning doctors and patients of the potential problems with the Pinnacle device, DePuy advertised the hip implant as a superior choice featuring its TrueGlide technology, “allowing the body to create a thin film of lubrication between surfaces, which enables ‘a more fluid range of natural motion.’”

Jerry “alleges that use of the Pinnacle Device results in an unsafe release of toxic metal ions into a hip implant recipient’s tissue and bloodstream” and that DePuy was “aware that metal particles from the Pinnacle Device result in metallosis, tissue death, bone resorption, and development of cysts.”

Debris created from the metal components rubbing together can cause inflammation, pain and tissue and bone loss.

DePuy allegedly was aware that cobalt and chromium levels in the bodies of Pinnacle recipients could exceed acceptable safety standards.

The DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement lawsuit alleges if Depuy had “conducted clinical trials of the Pinnacle Device before it was first released on the market in the early 2000s, they would have discovered at that time what they ultimately learned in and around 2007 – that the Pinnacle Device results in a high percentage of patients developing metallosis, biologic toxicity and loosening of their implant – failure of the device requiring revision surgery.”

The cobalt-chromium particles shave away when the metal femoral head rotates within the metal liner. The tiny metal particles cannot always be found and removed during revision surgery, which comes with its own risks.

According to the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement lawsuit, “hip replacement patients who undergo a revision surgery are almost four times more likely to suffer from a hip dislocation than those who have not.”

The DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacement Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-01948-K, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.