DePuy Pinnacle Hip Lawsuit Filed By Wright & Schulte LLC On Behalf of Ohio Man Who Required Revision Surgery Purportedly From Defective Hip Implant
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) July 12, 2014 -- Wright & Schulte LLC has filed a DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuit against DePuy Orthopedics, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, on behalf of an Ohio man who alleges that he suffers chronic pain after receiving a metal-on-metal DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement and had to undergo revision surgery four years later to remove the artificial hip implant. The DePuy hip lawsuit was filed July 7, 2014, in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Case No. 3:14-cv-2427) where DePuy Pinnacle Hip lawsuit litigation is underway. According to the Texas court’s Master Case List, there are 6,406 DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits pending in the litigation, as of June 16, 2014. (In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2244)
The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit purports that when the Ohio man had the artificial hip implant in July 2009, the defendants had already received reports that the Pinnacle Hip Replacement System failed and they knew that the product was defective but did not disclose the information to the public. According to the complaint, the Ohio man had surgery in November 2013 to remove the artificial hip implant. Since the surgery, the man experienced pain and tenderness in his right hip that still has not gone away. The complaint further alleges that the Ohio man may be forced to undergo future revision surgeries and faces potential metal poisoning, bone loss, chronic pain, and other serious medical problems as well as a decrease in his quality of life. The DePuyPinnacle Hip Replacement lawsuit asserts that the defendants did not sufficiently test the design of the all-metal medical device and it was never approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) as safe or effective for its intended purpose. (3:14-cv-2427)
According to the FDA, a metal-on-metal hip replacement device has a metal femoral head that rotates within a metal cup. The federal regulator says that in all-metal replacement hip devices, the metal ball and the metal cup rub against each other when a person is walking or running. This action can cause metal particles to wear off the device and fall in the area around the hip implant, according to the FDA. Additionally, wear and corrosion at the connection between the metal ball and taper of the stem may occur. As a result, some of the metal ions from the implant or from the metal particles can enter an individual’s bloodstream. The metal particles can also cause damage to the bone and tissue surrounding the implant and joint, which can lead to pain, the implant loosening, the device failing, and the need for recipients to have revision surgery.
[fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/MetalonMetalHipImplants/ucm241604.htm, January 17, 2013]
The FDA says that all-metal hip replacement systems were on the market prior to federal legislation enacted in 1976 that gave the FDA premarket approval over medical devices. The medical devices were classified as “high risk,” and regulated according to similar medical devices already being sold in the United States. In January 2013, the FDA announced that hip replacement devices sold prior to 1976 must undergo a premarket approval process, which requires presenting valid scientific evidence that shows the safety and effectiveness of their products, if the companies want to continue selling their medical devices.
[federalregister.gov/articles/2013/01/18/2013-01006/effective-date-of-requirement-for-premarket-approval-for-two-class-iii-preamendments-devices, January 18, 2013]
Bloomberg reported in May 2013, that Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopedics unit said it would stop selling metal-on-metal and ceramic-on-metal hip replacements. The companies reached the decision after the FDA’s January 2013 announcement over proposing tighter rules for medical devices. Additionally, sales of metal-on-metal hip implants had dropped 20 percent in the U.S. and Europe since 2007 due to doctors questioning the safety of the hip replacement systems, and patients filing lawsuits, according to the report.
[bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-16/j-j-will-stop-sales-of-metal-on-metal-hip-replacements.html, May 17, 2013]
Court records indicate that 6,046 DePuy Pinnacle complaints are pending in multidistrict litigation in the Texas federal court. The DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacement System lawsuits allege that DePuy’s all-metal hip implants prematurely failed and hip implant recipients had to undergo revision surgery to have the devices removed. The complaints also contend that hip implant recipients suffered from blood poisoning and chronic pain because of the alleged defective design of the metal-on-metal implant. The lawsuits also purport that DePuy Orthopedics did not provide adequate warning of the safety risks associated with all-metal hip implants.
In re: DePuy Orthopedics Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2244) [jpml.uscourts.gov/sites/jpml/files/Pending_MDL_Dockets_By_District-June-16-2014.pdf, June 16, 2014]
About Wright & Schulte LLC
Wright & Schulte LLC, an experienced personal injury firm, is dedicated to the belief that America’s legal system should work for the people. Every day, the attorneys of Wright & Schulte LLC stand up for the rights of people who have been injured or wronged and fight tirelessly to ensure that even the world’s most powerful corporations take responsibility for their actions. The law firm is actively presenting clients in the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement lawsuit proceedings. If you have experienced complications from the DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant or other metal-on-metal hip implants, you may be eligible to file your own lawsuit. To schedule a free legal consultation, contact Wright & Schulte LLC today through yourlegalhelp.com or by calling 1-800-399-0795.
Contact:
Wright & Schulte LLC
812 East National Road
Vandalia, Ohio 45377
1-800-399-0795
http://www.yourlegalhelp.com
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Richard Schulte, Wright & Schulte LLC, http://www.yourlegalhelp.com, +1 1-800-399-0795, [email protected]
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