DePuy Metal Hip Implant Lawyer Help: Resource4thePeople Encouraged by Additional Details of Proposed $4 Billion Settlement
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) December 12, 2013 -- http://www.resource4thepeople.com/defectivemedicaldevices/DePuy-ASR-hip-implant.html
Resource4thePeople announced today that it is encouraged by additional details that have been reported about a huge multibillion dollar settlement involving allegations over recalled metal hip systems produced by DePuy Orthopaedics.
Bloomberg News reported* on Nov. 21, 2013 that plaintiffs who have sued over these allegations would be eligible for a settlement “if they had an ASR implanted in the U.S. or a U.S. military hospital, had it removed for reasons related to the recall by Aug. 31 and had it in place for at least 180 days.”
Bloomberg reported that those getting awards will be in two groups: “The larger group will get a base award of $250,000 that can be reduced for such reasons as a patient’s age, weight, smoking history, and the length of time before the ASR was removed,” according to the report.
“Another group will be eligible for additional money if they had surgeries on both hips, needed multiple revisions, or had such extraordinary medical events as a heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism or deep-vein thrombosis.”
Resource4thePeople is encouraged that a settlement proposal has been submitted and that there may be a resolution for some of those who are alleging they have been victimized by devices that have been recalled.
“However, the proposed settlement may not be the best avenue of compensation for all victims and the fact that there is a settlement being proposed in no way prevents other consumers from coming forth and filing their own claims in connection with metal-on-metal hip devices that allegedly failed,” said Resource4thePeople.
“Therefore we are announcing the continuation of our policy of offering fee consultations to consumers who have not been part of this litigation** but are still considering seeking compensation for any injuries they may have suffered in connection with such allegations.”
Bloomberg also said in its report that DePuy’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, agreed to pay nearly $2.5 billion to resolve about 8,000 suits by patients who’ve already had defective hips removed and that there are still an estimated 4,000 suits from patients who haven’t yet had their implants removed.
“The accord, which ultimately could be worth more than $4 billion, doesn’t bar patients whose hips fail in the future from seeking compensation from the company,” Bloomberg reported.
The New York Times in a Nov. 12, 2013 posting*** reported on the huge scope of the proposed settlement saying "The tentative plan, which must win court approval, represents one of the largest payouts for product liability claims involving a medical device."
"This tentative settlement is good news for the thousands of consumers who may have been affected by allegations that these metal-on-metal hip implants known as the Articular Surface Replacement, or ASR systems were flawed and caused serious health problems," said Resource4thePeople.
The devices were the subject of a nationwide recall**** announced on Aug. 24, 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which warned consumers about the dangers of metal-on-metal hip implant systems.
In its announcement, the FDA said "there was a voluntary recall of the DePuy ASR TM total hip system because of new, unpublished data from the UK joint registry indicating the revision rates within 5 years were approximately 13 percent."
The Times, in its settlement report, said that "Many artificial hips last 15 years or more before they wear out and need to be replaced. But by 2008, data from orthopedic databases outside the United States also showed that the A.S.R. was failing at high rates in patients after just a few years."
"Internal DePuy projections estimate that it will fail in 40 percent of those patients in five years, a rate eight times higher than for many other hip devices," the Times also reported.
"The number of cases involving these allegations against the DePuy ASR systems in this federal consolidation** has now climbed to at least 8,330 lawsuits," said Resource4thePeople.
Those figures***** of the number of cases before Judge David A. Katz in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio are documented in the latest reporting period ending Nov. 18, 2013 by the U.S. Panel for Multidistrict Litigation.
The federal cases, and another multidistrict consolidation****** of state cases that now numbers over 600 lawsuits involving the same allegations are progressing on parallel tracks, said Resource4thePeople.
Here is a description******* of the common allegations taken from the federal litigation court file:
"The actions share factual issues as to whether DePuy’s ASR XL Acetabular Hip System, a device used in hip replacement surgery, was defectively designed and/or manufactured, and whether DePuy failed to provide adequate warnings concerning the device, which DePuy recalled along with another ASR device,3 the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, in August 2010."
DePuy’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson on, May 17, 2013******** announced it was halting sales of metal implant products after two trials in which one jury********* awarded a plaintiff $8.3 million in damages and a second trial********** in which a jury found in favor of DePuy.
Sources:
*http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-21/j-j-hip-implant-judge-warns-of-rogue-websites-on-accord.html
**In re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL-2197, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
***http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/13/business/johnson-and-johnson-said-to-agree-to-4-billion-settlement-over-hip-implants.html
****http://www.fda.gov/medicaldevices/productsandmedicalprocedures/implantsandprosthetics/metalonmetalhipimplants/ucm241770.htm#2
******http://www.jpml.uscourts.gov/sites/jpml/files/Pending_MDL_Dockets_By_District-November-18-2013.pdf
*****In Re: DePuy ASR Hip Implants Litigation, BER-L-3971-11, Superior Court, Bergen County, New Jersey
*******http://www.ohnd.uscourts.gov/home/clerk-s-office-and-court-records/multidistrict-litigation-cases/mdl-2197/
********http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-16/j-j-will-stop-sales-of-metal-on-metal-hip-replacements.html
*********Kransky v. DePuy, BC456086, California Superior Court, Los Angeles County (Los Angeles).
**********Strum v. DePuy, 2011-L-9352, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chicago, Illinois
Bill Callahan, iLawSuit, +1 858 602-2749, [email protected]
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