Nearly half a million Americans have had a hip replacement surgery, and many have been implanted with Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy ASR hip implant product.

The DePuy ASR hip implant has been a popular hip replacement device. However, it has also been in the center of several product liability lawsuits following a DePuy ASR hip recall in August 2010.

In addition, the DePuy ASR hip implant has also been the center and subject of a substantial DePuy ASR settlement stemming from patients and plaintiffs who have undergone hip revision surgery.

Some reported problems which have led to the DePuy ASR settlement include the following: failure of the metal-on-metal hip implant, requiring early replacement; dislocated hip; leaking of toxic substances into the bloodstream such as chromium and cobalt substances; cancer; degenerative heart disease or cardiomyopathy; loss of bone strength or structure resulting in bone fractures; tissue death for tissue adjacent or next to the hip implant; non-cancerous tumors or pseudotumors; cobalt poisoning; and metallosis.

DePuy ASR Settlement

Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System, has faced nearly 8,000 DePuy hip implant lawsuits. They are also facing a similar number of lawsuits pertaining to their DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System. These are widespread metal hip replacement systems, used in thousands of patients living in the U.S.

The first few lawsuits pertaining to the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System have already reached settlement by the Johnson & Johnson company. Johnson & Johnson, in August 2012, announced that it had reached a DePuy ASR settlement.

They agreed to settle three DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuits filed by patients who had suffered from severe adverse effects and complications. The combined DePuy ASR settlement reached $600,000 and was filed by these patients due to the following adverse effects. It included bone damage, pain and other hip implant complications.

Each plaintiff in this DePuy ASR settlement received $200,000. The settlement agreement was later expanded to include potentially thousands of DePuy ASR patients who had to undergo revision surgery to resolve their complications. Estimated payments available to qualifying patients may range between $200,000 and $500,000.

The most recent modification of the DePuy ASR settlement makes it available for patients who received a DePuy ASR revision surgery any time after March 2015.

The importance of speaking to a DePuy ASR hip implant attorney, however, cannot be stressed enough regarding DePuy ASR settlement processes, as these settlement processes can be complicated. For patients who qualify, participation in a DePuy ASR hip implant can result in thousands of dollars for persons affected with the metal-on-metal hip implant device.