Plaintiff Gary Cousineau has filed a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturers of his artificial hip joint, the DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System (ACS), alleging that the artificial joint was defective. The lawsuit joins thousands of other DePuy hip lawsuits filed against DePuy Orthopaedics and parent company Johnson & Johnson.

In October 2009, Cousineau had his left hip joint replaced with a DePuy Pinnacle ACS device. However, not long after the replacement, Cousineau reported that he suffered from debilitating pain that required additional medical care. Per the DePuy hip lawsuit, he may need to have the joint replaced again as a result of the debilitating pain.

The hip replacement lawsuit argues that the manufacturers were aware of these risks, but concealed them to make a profit. To support this allegation, the hip implant lawsuit states that studies have indicated that metal-on-metal hip implants, like the Pinnacle ACS, may be associated with a number of serious complications, including metal poisoning by the metal ions released from the surfaces of the joint, as well as the failure of the joint.

The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit further alleges that not only was DePuy aware of this information, but that they actively concealed these risks from the public, and continued to make a profit up until the Pinnacle ACS’s withdrawal and recall from the market in 2009. The hip recall lawsuit points out that the joint’s manufacturers made billions of dollars from the sale of these allegedly-dangerous hip joints.

Other manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip joints have faced similar litigation. These group hip lawsuits, similar to class action lawsuits, have sought billions in restitution for their allegedly defective hip joints. This group litigation covers different brands, models and manufacturers of artificial hip joints, which have all been alleged to cause the same types of complications. Most of these complications are related to the failure of the joint and the release of metal ions into the blood.

The hip implant lawsuit is Gary Cousineau v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-04998, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The DePuy hip implant MDL is In re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3:11-md-02244, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Get Help for Painful Hip Replacement Complications

If you or someone you care about suffered from serious complications after having a hip replacement surgery, you’ve almost certainly been through a trying ordeal. Even a textbook hip replacement is a major surgery, complete with recovery time, hospital bills and lost wages. When a hip implant requires revision surgery, these issues are compounded by the fact that a second surgery can be more technically challenging than the first time around, since less of the original joint remains. When facing such a challenge, many people feel overwhelmed, or even depressed.

Regardless of the challenges you are facing, it is important to remember that you still have rights, and there are steps that you can take to regain a measure of control over your situation. You can start by visiting the Metal on Metal Replacement Hip Implant Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Here, you can enter information about your situation for a free review by a trained legal expert with a background in this type of litigation.