Please be advised that O’Connor, Acciani & Levy are no longer accepting cases for DePuy Hip Implant.
Did your DePuy hip implant cause severe injuries or complications?
O'Connor, Acciani & Levy's
defective medical device attorneys may be able to file a DePuy hip replacement lawsuit to try to obtain compensation for medical expenses and other damages caused by your injuries. DePuy Orthopedics has paid billions of dollars to settle thousands of lawsuits filed by people who were injured by these devices.
The attorneys at our firm can manage every aspect of your case as we try to prove that DePuy knew or should have known about the dangers of these implants. Our Cincinnati DePuy hip implant lawyers have a long track record of obtaining fair compensation for those who were injured because of a corporation's negligence. Your consultation with our attorneys is free and you will not be charged legal fees unless we obtain compensation for your personal injuries.
DANGERS OF DEPUY HIP REPLACEMENTS
Approximately 19,000 people have sued DePuy Orthopaedics over injuries they suffered after receiving a Pinnacle or Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) hip implant.
These lawsuits claim the implants had a variety of problems, including loosening and dislocation. Some people suffered metallosis, also known as metal poisoning, which occurs when metal-on-metal parts rub against each other and cause a buildup of metal debris in the body. These metal flakes or shavings can cause serious damage to the soft tissues and bone around the hip implant.
The lawsuits allege that these and other issues caused the devices to fail much faster than DePuy claimed they would. Early device failure required thousands of people to get revision surgery to replace the DePuy implant with another type of artificial hip.
ASR RECALL
Many of the DePuy hip replacement lawsuits involving the ASR implant were filed in the months after the
company issued a voluntary recall of these devices in August 2010. The recall included the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System. The company did the recall because of the large number of patients who needed revision surgery to replace these implants.
DePuy's recall notice said that data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales showed the ASR hip resurfacing system and ASR XL Acetabular System had five-year revision rates of 12 percent and 13 percent, respectively. This is higher than the revision rates for other devices in the same class of hip implants.
RESEARCH ON PINNACLE IMPLANTS
Researchers have found that DePuy Pinnacle hip implants have a high revision rate as well. In April 2016, the
British Medical Journal published a study that found 71 of 489 patients studied needed revision procedures. The study also showed that implants made in 2006 or later had a higher revision rate than implants made before then.
If you were implanted with a recalled hip replacement or had to get revision surgery, you may have legal options.
DEPUY HIP REPLACEMENT LAWSUITS
DePuy Orthopaedics is currently facing approximately 10,000 hip replacement lawsuits. There are more than
1,600 ASR hip implant lawsuits pending in a federal court in Ohio as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL). The company also faces more than 9,000 lawsuits involving Pinnacle hip implants, which are pending in an MDL in Texas.
ASR LAWSUITS
The company settled approximately 9,000 lawsuits involving the ASR-model implants between 2013 and 2015 for approximately $4.4 billion. DePuy has also paid out nearly $2 billion in compensation in DePuy hip replacement lawsuits involving Pinnacle implants since 2015.
The first ASR case to go to trial resulted in an
$8.3 million settlement for a Montana man in March 2013. During the trial, his attorneys presented documents indicating that DePuy knew ASR implants had problems and failed to warn consumers of these risks.
For instance, according to these documents, the company thought that two in five patients would need revision surgery in just five years. Documents showed that surgeons told the company it should stop selling ASR implants because of the dangers. Evidence also showed that Johnson & Johnson, which owns DePuy, considered redesigning the implants but abandoned the idea because the products were not making enough money to justify a redesign.
The second trial occurred in April 2013 and was decided in DePuy's favor while the company settled three more lawsuits for $200,000 each in August 2013.
Then, in November of that year,
DePuy agreed to settle almost 8,000 ASR cases for approximately $4 billion. Each patient who was part of the settlement would receive an average of $350,000 in compensation. This figure varied based on a variety of factors, including the patient's age and medical issues.
Another 1,800 ASR lawsuits were settled in March 2015, for approximately $420 million in compensation to victims.
PINNACLE LAWSUITS
The first trial in a Pinnacle hip implant lawsuit took place in September 2014 and was decided in DePuy's favor. One year later, five plaintiffs in one lawsuit were awarded $502 million. They alleged that the company hid flaws in Pinnacle artificial hips that caused premature device failure. This caused physical pain and the need for revision surgeries.
In 2016,
six plaintiffs were awarded $1 billion in compensation from a federal jury in Dallas. Each plaintiff had to undergo revision surgery to replace their hip implant and fix bone erosion and tissue damage. One victim had to be given double hip implants to repair the damage. The jury found that DePuy failed to warn patients and doctors about the risks of these implants.
DePuy lost another Pinnacle lawsuit in November 2017 when a federal jury ordered the company to pay
$247 million to six patients. The jury found that the implants had a defective design and the company failed to warn consumers about the risks of these devices.
The victims claimed that DePuy promoted these devices as lasting longer than similar implants made from ceramics or plastic, which was not true.
If you suffered any injuries or needed revision surgery after receiving an ASR or Pinnacle hip implant, our attorneys may be able to file a DePuy hip replacement lawsuit to try to obtain compensation.
Medical device manufacturers have a legal obligation to produce safe products that do not present an unreasonable risk of harm to patients. If a device is dangerous, the companies also have an obligation to provide adequate warning about the risks so doctors and patients can decide whether to use the devices.
If these things do not happen, and patients suffer injuries, they should be compensated for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and any other damages that result. Our Cincinnati DePuy hip implant lawyers could help.
Our defective medical device attorneys are prepared to file a DePuy hip replacement lawsuit for those who were injured by these defective implants.
