Johnson & Johnson’s popular ASR hip implant has been the subject of a massive DePuy hip implant settlement due to allegations that the metal-on-metal hip replacement was linked to serious injuries and complications.

Currently, the company has paid DePuy hip implant settlement amounts of $4.4 billion and has settled more than 9,000 lawsuits between 2013 and 2015.

Those who have undergone hip replacement surgeries include at least half a million Americans. Of this number, several have been implanted with Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy ASR hip implant.

The DePuy hip implant settlement accuses the device of causing severe adverse effects. Some patients had to undergo additional revision surgery to replace their defective hips.

Some reasons people have filed DePuy hip implant lawsuits include loosening, revision surgery, dislocation, and metal poisoning or metallosis.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the company’s voluntary recall of ASR hip implant devices on Aug. 24, 2010. The recall affected 93,000 ASR hip implant devices around the world, and included roughly 37,000 devices in the U.S. In fact, according to 2010 UK data from an independent national registry, five years after an ASR total hip replacement, 13 percent of patients needed to undergo revision surgery.

If you were implanted with a DePuy ASR hip implant and had to undergo revision surgery due to some of the following adverse effects, you may have a legal claim:

• Cobalt poisoning
• Pseudotumors or non-cancerous tumors surrounding the hip implant
• Metal poisoning or metallosis that includes the presence of chromium or cobalt particles in the bloodstream or surrounding tissue
• Death of tissue
• Bone fractures resulting from bone strength loss or structure
• Cancer
• Cardiomyopathy or Degenerative Heart Disease
• Hip Dislocation
• Metal hip implant failure resulting in early hip replacement surgery

Overview: DePuy Hip Implant Settlement & ASR Hip Implant Lawsuits

Some of the accusations filed against DePuy, along with DePuy’s parent company Johnson & Johnson, include knowing of the adverse effects and complications involved with the device but failing to warn people and the medical community. Allegedly, there have been several revelations that have stemmed from Johnson & Johnson internal documents revealed at the company’s first DePuy ASR trial.

Some of the revelations include that the company expected two out of five patients who receive a DePuy ASR hip implant to require revision surgery in five years.

Additionally, the company allegedly knew of problems with the ASR hip implant’s design but decided to continue selling the device. They were also allegedly told by surgeons that the DePuy ASR hip implant should be refrained from being sold on the market.

Johnson & Johnson announced in August 2012 that it agreed on an ASR XL Acetabular System settlement pertaining to the first lawsuits filed against the company. The DePuy hip implant settlement comprised of three lawsuits filed by patients who suffered severe complications of bone damage, pain, and other side effects including undergoing artificial hip removal surgery. Of the DePuy hip implant settlement, each plaintiff received $200,000.