An Ohio couple has filed a lawsuit against DePuy Orthopaedics and parent company Johnson & Johnson after the DePuy Pinnacle cup and Pinnacle Device Replacement System allegedly caused the husband serious bodily injury.

Plaintiffs Ralph B. and Kathleen B. state that as a result of Ralph having the DePuy Pinnacle cup and Pinnacle Device Replacement System implanted in 2006 in his right hip, he began to have pain after the surgery. At the time Ralph consulted his doctor, Pinnacle had received over 600 reports that the device was prone to failure due to its defective nature, yet the manufacturer failed to disclose this information to Ralph and his physician, the DePuy Pinnacle cup lawsuit states.

After being evaluated for his hip pain, it was determined that Ralph had high levels of metal in his blood, and it was recommended that he undergo revision surgery to replace the hip implant device. Ralph underwent a right hip revision surgery in August 2016 to remove and replace his DePuy Pinnacle cup and Pinnacle Device Replacement System.

The DePuy lawsuit states that patients undergoing revision surgery have a much higher risk of dislocation compared with the original hip replacement surgery. Studies showed that hip replacement patients who have needed to undergo revision surgery are almost four times more likely to suffer from a hip dislocation than those who have not, according to the DePuy Pinnacle cup lawsuit.

Ralph’s hip implant contains a DePuy Pinnacle cup that is made of metal that is lined with a metal liner connecting the metal femoral head and stem piece to the socket of the cup. In this device, all components are metal, rendering the hip implant a metal-on-metal device.

Unlike other metal hip implants which have a polyethylene or other liner in between the cup and femoral head, preventing the metal parts from touching, the device implanted in Ralph allowed the metal parts to touch. As these parts touch within the course of normal use of the device, it causes metal particles to slough off and enter the tissue and blood stream.

The metal particles can then cause local or systemic damage to patients. The tissue surrounding the hip implants can die, causing it to become loose or dislocate. Metal ions can also build up in the blood causing metallosis, or metal toxicity. Metal toxicity can lead to organ damage, endocrine disruption and more.

“As a direct and proximate result of the failure of Plaintiff’s defective Pinnacle Device and the Defendants’ wrongful conduct, Plaintiff sustained and continues to suffer economic damages (including medical expenses), severe injuries, pain, suffering and emotional distress,” the DePuy Pinnacle cup lawsuit states.

The lawsuit continues, “As a direct and proximate result of the failure of the defective Pinnacle Device and Defendants’ wrongful conduct, Plaintiff has been caused economic damages, grief, sorrow, mental anguish, emotional distress, and pain and suffering.”

Ralph and Kathleen have raised a number of counts against the Defendants including negligence, strict products liability for manufacturing defect, design defect and failure to warn, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of implied and express warranties, fraud, violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, punitive damages and loss of consortium.

The couple is seeking judgment against all defendants, compensation for economic and non-economic losses including medical expenses, disfigurement, pain and suffering, mental anguish and emotional distress, punitive and/or exemplary damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, pre-and post-judgment interest and any additional relief deemed just and proper by the Court.

The DePuy Pinnacle Cup Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-01863-K, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.