A Virginia woman recently filed a metal hip implant failure lawsuit against DePuy Orthopaedics, claiming she suffered injury because of the company’s device.

The plaintiff, Donna K., filed the metal hip implant failure lawsuit after suffering from serious injuries. According to the plaintiff’s lawsuit, she was implanted with a DePuy ASR hip implant on her right hip on February 16, 2009.

Unfortunately, Donna K. subsequently suffered from significant pain and other injuries following the surgery as a result of the metal hip implant.

The metal hip implant failure lawsuit alleges that she suffered from the device loosening, as well as metal reaction and symptoms.

These injuries caused the plaintiff to have the implant explanted on July 26, 2016.

The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff did not and could not have known that her injuries were a result of the metal hip device until she became aware of the device’s recall, and later when she had her blood drawn and tested to determine metal reaction.

The lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including negligence, defective design, failure to warn, breach of express and implied warranties and fraudulent concealment, among several others. The plaintiff also filed for punitive damages.

Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement Implants

Complications of hip replacement can be fairly serious. These devices, including the DePuy implants, have a high failure rate, and can also release highly toxic metal ions into a patient’s tissue and bloodstream.

Particles released from the metal-on-metal hip implant devices can also cause metallosis, tissue death, and tumor growth.

The DePuy hip implant systems have already been taken off the Australian market because of its early and high rate of failure.

DePuy Metal Hip Implant Failure Lawsuits

Metal hip implant failure lawsuits against DePuy allege that the company failed to adequately warn the public and the medical community about their device’s risks, and even actively concealed its defects.

Lawsuits claim that, had plaintiffs known about these risks, they could have chosen a safer alternative and avoided these complications altogether.

Situations like Donna K.’s may become even more widespread. There have been approximately 150,000 DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup Systems implanted in patients since its release onto the market. This exposes a great number of people to the device’s potential defects.

Indeed, over 1,300 adverse reports have been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding failures of the DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System alone.

Metal hip implant lawsuits allege that DePuy had material knowledge that its metal-on-metal hip replacement systems were defective and therefore not safe prior to selling the product.

Instead of recalling the allegedly defective product, DePuy continued to market the hip implant system as safe and effective to maintain sales. Ultimately, the lawsuits claim that DePuy is apparently more concerned with their sales revenue and corporate profits than patient safety.

If you or someone you love has experienced complications due to a metal-on-metal hip replacement implant from DePuy or another company, you may be able to file a metal hip implant failure lawsuit.

The DePuy Metal Hip Implant Failure Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-dp-20145 and is part of the DePuy MDL In re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2197, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.