A DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit has been filed by a man who claims the hip implant system is defective.

Plaintiff Bruce W. underwent hip replacement surgery in June 2010. A Pinnacle device with a metal-on-metal liner was used. He reportedly suffered constant pain, elevated cobalt and chromium blood levels, and difficulty walking after he received the implants.

Because of his chronic pain and other symptoms, Bruce endured a revision surgery of his hip in August 2017, according to his DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit.

DePuy Pinnacle Lawsuit Alleges Defects Were Known

DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, introduced the Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System in 2001.

Although the hip replacement device was designed for human hip joints that were damaged or diseased, marketing materials described the Pinnacle as “uniquely designed to meet the demands of active patients like you – and help reduce pain.”

Photos of a woman trying on athletic sneakers accompanied the promotional verbiage, which boasted of a superior TrueGlide technology that was supposed to provide “a more fluid range of natural motion.”

The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit alleges that the FDA has received more than 1,300 adverse event reports due to Pinnacle device complications and failures.

These adverse effects include metallosis (metal poisoning) because the metal-on-metal parts release “toxic metal ions into hip implant recipients’ tissue and bloodstream.”

The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit further alleges that the company knew the metal particles could cause problems such as tissue death, bone erosion, and the development of tumors.

DePuy did not conduct adequate clinical trials of the Pinnacle system prior to the device’s introduction to the consumer market, Bruce claims.

The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit says if proper trials had been conducted in the early 2000s, the release of metal pieces in the patient’s nearby tissue when the cobalt-chromium head rotates within the metal liner would have been known sooner.

“In other words, implantation of the Pinnacle Device results in the nearly immediate systemic release of high levels of toxic cobalt-chromium ions into every hip implant patient’s tissue and bloodstream,” alleges the DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit.

DePuy had similar issues with its ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing System. The ASR also was prone to early failure and the onset of metallosis, which led to serious health issues and revision surgery. DePuy recalled 93,000 ASR devices worldwide in August 2010.

Problems with the DePuy system echo those of the ASR. Patients are apt to suffer harmful effects such as loss of mobility, impaired range of motion, constant physical pain, mental anguish, and the need for revision surgery.

The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit alleges the company knew the hip replacement product was defective and was “inherently dangerous and unsafe.”

The DePuy Pinnacle Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-03049-K in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.