DePuy ASR Recall Lawsuit Filed by 21 Plaintiffs

By Sarah Mirando | August 15, 2012

Category: Pharmaceuticals

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By Matt O’Donnell

A new lawsuit filed by 21 Plaintiffs who claim to have suffered injuries from the DePuy ASR hip implant has been filed in Madison County Circuit Court. The Plaintiffs are seeking over $350,000 in damages for DePuy ASR side effects and injuries caused by metal poisoning, including tissue loss, bone loss, liver damage, kidney damage, and neurological injuries.

The Plaintiffs allege in the DePuy ASR lawsuit that DePuy Orthopaedics and parent company Johnson & Johnson were aware of the side effects of their hip replacement products but failed to warn the public of the risks. According to the DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuit, the companies were notified as early as 2007 by the Australian National Join Replacement Registry that these devices were linked to high failure rates. A year later, in 2008, Newcastle University Hospital concluded that patients implanted with the metal-on-metal ASR hip replacement system were at an increased risk for high blood levels of cobalt and chromium. By that same year, the FDA had received more than 300 reports of problems associated with the DePuy ASR. Despite all of this information, Johnson & Johnson failed to recall the device until August 2010. By that time, thousands of patients had been implanted with a defective hip implant they did not know was defective. Many of these patients have chosen to sue DePuy and Johnson & Johnson for failing to warn them.

Other metal-on-metal hip implant manufacturers have also been hit with lawsuits by patients who suffered similar side effects from the devices. Recent studies have confirmed that metal-on-metal hip implants have an exceedingly high failure rate and put patients at risk for serious side effects caused by the devices failing and/or shedding metal ions into the bloodstream. Scientists have determined that 6.2% of patients need revision surgery within five years to correct the problems these devices cause.

Metal-on-metal hip implant side effects include:

* cancer

* degenerative heart disease

* psuedotumors

* pain

* swelling

* dislocated hip

* metallosis (metal blood poisoning)

* tissue damage

* loss of bone strength

* cobalt poisoning

According to the 21 Plaintiffs in the DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuit, the company failed to warn the public about these potential risks, causing the Plaintiffs to suffer severe and long-lasting damage from their ASR injuries. The Plaintiffs also allege the device should have been taken off the market before the August 2010 DePuy ASR recall. DePuy pulled the device from the Australian market in December 2009, but didn’t notify American doctors until March 2010 of the device’s unacceptable failure rates, and didn’t recall the ASR from the U.S. market until months later.

If you were implanted with a DePuy ASR or another metal-on-metal hip implant, you may be able to receive compensation for your injuries. Hundreds of metal hip injury lawsuits have been filed by patients across the country who want the manufacturers held liable for selling a defective product.

Visit the DePuy, Biomet, Wright Medical Technology & Others Metal-on-Metal Hip Implant Class Action Lawsuit Investigation for more information about your legal rights. Hip implant injury attorneys are waiting to hear from you, and will provide a free consultation about your case.

Updated August 15th, 2012

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