Plaintiff Lauren C. has filed a products liability lawsuit in Texas federal court against DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. The complaint alleges that she developed serious  DePuy hip replacement side effects after undergoing a hip replacement with a DePuy product.

According to the DePuy hip replacement side effects lawsuit, in December 2008 Lauren underwent a left total hip arthroplasty at St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena, Mont.

However, the DePuy hip replacement side effects lawsuit states that following surgery she began to suffer from severe discomfort and pain. The complaint says that “had plaintiff known that the Pinnacle Device caused symptoms she was experiencing, plaintiff would not have elected the Pinnacle Device.”

The DePuy hip replacement side effects lawsuit states that some of the damages Lauren sustained include emotional distress, severe and possible permanent injuries, disability, disfigurement, economic damages, rehabilitative and pharmaceutical costs, and lost wages.

According to DePuy hip replacement side effects lawsuit, had the defendant manufacturer not concealed the known defects of the device, including the early failure rate of the device, and the known complications and risks involved in becoming implanted with a Pinnacle device, Lauren would have never consented to use the product in her total hip arthroplasty.

DePuy Hip Replacement Side Effects Lawsuit Facts

Plaintiffs like Lauren have filed several hip implant lawsuits alleging adverse effects and complications arising from the metal-on-metal device. Some of the complications reported include bone loss, premature loosening, early implant failure, and metal contamination.

The product in question is the DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup system. According to the DePuy hip replacement side effects lawsuit, the product uses a metal femoral ball in direct contact with a metal acetabular cup. What can result from that design is metal contamination that affects the surrounding tissue and hip joint. A condition known as metallosis can occur resulting in metal debris floating and moving within the patient’s bloodstream.

In addition, other DePuy hip implant products have been the subject of similar purported product allegations. For example, Johnson & Johnson, the manufacture of the Pinnacle device, issued a DePuy ASR recall in 2010. This recall resulted from an increasing number of patients alleging that they had suffered severe complications and side effects after the product’s implantation.

According to the DePuy hip replacement side effects lawsuit, DePuy had received its approval through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 510(k) approval process. This process allows a manufacturer to avoid conducting a full battery of clinical trials in order to prove the efficacy and safety of the device. They simply need to prove the device is substantially equivalent to another product already being sold on the market.

The DePuy hip replacement side effects lawsuit argues that after receiving 1,300 reported adverse event reports surrounding the Pinnacle Device since 2002, the “defendants should have recalled or notified the public and health care industry of the defective problems.”

The DePuy Hip Replacement Side Effects Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-02519-K and is part of the Pinnacle MDL, In re:  DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL 3:11-MD-2244-K in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.