A Louisiana woman recently filed a lawsuit against DePuy Orthopaedics, alleging the company’s DePuy ASR hip implant system caused her to suffer serious complications, including heavy metal toxicity, pain in her hip, and more.

The plaintiff, Herta C., alleges she was implanted with a DePuy ASR hip implant system in her left hip on Feb. 26, 2009, at a Louisiana hospital. However, in the years following this implantation, Herta says she began experiencing severe complications, including an increasingly growing pain in her left hip.

On June 17, 2017, Herta says she was diagnosed with heavy metal toxicity from elevated levels of chromium and cobalt metals, which she alleges was caused by her DePuy ASR hip implant system. The defects of this DePuy ASR hip implant system led to pain, difficulty walking, and more. On top of the physical complications, Herta alleges she also faces medical expenses hospitalization because of these complications.

On her doctor’s recommendation, Herta says she underwent removal of the DePuy ASR hip implant system in an attempt to alleviate these symptoms.

Herta filed her DePuy ASR hip implant system lawsuit on June 14, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Western Division of the Northern District of Ohio. The lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including negligence, defective design, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of express and implied warranties, fraud and deceit, and a slew of others.

Herta is far from the first to a lawsuit over the alleged failure of a DePuy ASR hip implant system and related side effects. Indeed, more and more patients who have been undergone revision surgery due to DePuy hip implant failure are filing lawsuits, alleging that the manufacturer failed to adequately warn about the risk. While filing a lawsuit cannot reverse the damage done by side effects of DePuy hip implant failure, it can provide some financial compensation to help with medical expenses and lost wages.

Herta’s lawsuit is part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation—a collection of similar lawsuits filed over the DePuy ASR hip implant system that have been consolidated.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recall of the DePuy ASR hip implant device back in August 2010, affecting around 93,000 total hip implant devices across the world. Around a third of these recalled devices were implanted in American patients.

Filing a DePuy Hip Implant Failure Lawsuit

Lawsuits claim that DePuy failed to adequately warn both the public and the medical community about the risks associated with the DePuy ASR hip implant system, including device failure and metallosis. Had plaintiffs known about the risks linked with the DePuy ASR hip implant system, lawsuits claim, they would have chosen a safer alternative and avoided these complications altogether.

If you or someone you love has suffered from side effects after implantation with a DePuy ASR hip implant system, you may be able to file a lawsuit. While filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by a defective hip implant, it can help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages.

The DePuy ASR Hip Implant System Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-dp-20046-JJH, in the U.S. District Court for the Western Division of the Northern District of Ohio.