A group of four plaintiffs has filed a DePuy Pinnacle implant lawsuit alleging the hip implant system was defective and caused them all to undergo premature revision surgeries.

The DePuy Pinnacle implant consists of four hip replacement components: a metal femoral stem that is inserted inside the femur bone; a metal femoral head (or ball) that connects to the other end of the stem; and a femoral head that rotates within a metal acetabulum shell (socket) against a liner called Ultamet, which is also made of metal.

The Pinnacle hip implant system was marketed as a superior device because of its TruGlide technology that allegedly allowed the patient’s own body to create a thin film of lubrication between surfaces for “a more fluid range of natural motion.”

The DePuy Pinnacle implant also was advertised as the artificial hip that would best reproduce the natural motion of the hip, which would allegedly increase stability. However, plaintiffs claim the metal-on-metal device may cause patients to suffer a number of serious side effects and complications, such as blood poisoning.

DePuy Pinnacle Implant Lawsuit Allegations

Plaintiffs point out that DePuy and Johnson & Johnson have said in their promotional materials that “99.9% of Pinnacle hip components are still in use today,” even though more than 1,300 adverse event reports have been submitted to the FDA regarding Pinnacle device failures or complications.

The four plaintiffs allege that DePuy and Johnson & Johnson knew the risks of their Pinnacle product, and that Pinnacle hip implants could “result in metallosis (metal poisoning), biologic toxicity and high failure rate.”

Metallic debris from the cobalt-chromium metal Ultamet liner rubbing against the cobalt-chromium ball (femoral head) allegedly result in inflammation, bone death, tissue death and metal poisoning of the blood stream. Symptoms include loss of mobility, severe pain, pseudotumors, infection and loss of mobility.

Their individual cases are as follows:

• Donna B. says she underwent a total left hip replacement procedure in July 2005 and was implanted with the DePuy Pinnacle implant system using the Ultamet liner. She claims severe pain and inflammation led her to undergo revision surgery in June 2018. Donna also underwent a total right hip replacement procedure in 2004, during which time a DePuy Pinnacle implant system with the Ultamet liner was placed in that hip area. After allegedly experiencing chronic pain and other symptoms, she says she was scheduled to undergo a right hip revision surgery in late October 2018.
• In October 2008, Brandy R. says she received a DePuy Pinnacle hip system with the Ultamet liner in place of her right hip. She claims that the “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 enter her bloodstream and the tissue and bone near the implant. She says she underwent hip revision surgery to replace the DePuy Pinnacle implant in July 2017.
• Gary C. says he received a Pinnacle hip device with the Ultamet liner in August 2007 in place of his right hip. He says he had to undergo a hip revision procedure in August 2018 after he allegedly suffered severe pain and inflammation from metal poisoning of his blood, tissue and bone.
• Frances B. says she received the DePuy Pinnacle hip implant with Ultamet liner in November 2008 in place of her right hip. After she allegedly suffered metal poisoning marked by bone and tissue death and chronic pain, Frances says she underwent revision surgery in July 2018.

Their lawsuit joins an increasing number of lawsuits being filed against DePuy and their parent company J&J, for metallosis from metal hip replacement devices.

This DePuy Pinnacle Implant Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-02767-K, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.