A Texas couple file a hip implant lawsuit against DePuy Orthopaedics and parent company Johnson & Johnson for allegedly failing to warn that the Pinnacle hip implant device was dangerous and unsafe for its intended use.

Plaintiffs Kenneth and Nancy L. filed the DePuy hip lawsuit alleging that the manufacturers knew the Pinnacle implant was defective and failed hundreds of times, yet continued to market the product to patients by actively concealing the information from consumers as well as the medical community.

Kenneth claims he underwent a total hip replacement in 2007 when he was implanted with DePuy’s Pinnacle. He later suffered from extreme hip pain and had to decide if a revision surgery would be the best option.

According to the hip implant lawsuit, plaintiff Kenneth studied the effectiveness of having an additional hip replacement surgery and found that patients who undergo revision surgery are almost four times more likely to suffer from hip dislocation.

The plaintiff claims he will continue to suffer severe injuries, pain, suffering and emotional distress as a direct result of DePuy’s wrongful conduct. According to the hip replacement lawsuit, the “defendants’ acts were willful, wanton and malicious, and showed a total disregard for human life and human suffering.”

Kenneth and his wife Nancy are seeking at least $75,000 in damages. Nancy claims she has been deprived of her spouse’s companionship and affection as a result of the defendant’s alleged misconduct.

Hip Replacement Complications

The FDA granted approval for the Pinnacle hip implant through a premarket approval process under section 510(k). According to the DePuy lawsuit, this means the device was not clinically tested for safety or effectiveness.

The plaintiffs allege that while most hip replacements use a polyethylene plastic acetabular liner, DePuy’s Pinnacle is a metal-on-metal hip implant. Over time, the Pinnacle implant forces metal to rub against metal which can lead to serious hip implant side effects including metal poisoning of the bloodstream.

Plaintiffs Kenneth and Nancy allege that the Pinnacle implant suffers from a similar design defect that forced DePuy to recall more than 93,000 metal-on-metal ASR hip implants worldwide.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received more than 1,300 adverse reports of Pinnacle hip implant complications including:

• Loss of bone strength
• Non-cancerous tumors around implant
• Cobalt poisoning
• Chromium or cobalt leaking into bloodstream
• Tissue death
• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Metal poisoning

Metal-on-Metal Hip Implant Lawsuits

More than 500,000 U.S. patients have had hip replacement surgery. Thousands of hip implant lawsuits have been filed by plaintiffs like Kenneth who accuse DePuy of negligently and carelessly designing a product that was unsafe for its intended use “in complete and reckless disregard of the safety of (the) plaintiff.”

The plaintiffs are also suing DePuy for the intentional infliction of emotional distress they have suffered.

The DePuy hip lawsuit is Case No. 3:15-cv-02316-K in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and the Hip Implant MDL is In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation MDL Case No. 2244.