DePuy Pinnacle Hip Lawsuits Allege Recipients Endured Risky and Painful Surgeries from Hip Replacement
If you or someone you love were injured by a failing DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip replacement device, contact Wright & Schulte LLC for a free legal consultation at www.yourlegalhelp.com, or call 1-800-399-0795
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) October 15, 2014
Wright & Schulte LLC continues to file DePuy Pinnacle Hip lawsuits, this one on behalf of a man who underwent hip surgery to remove a DePuy metal-on-metal hip implant. The complaint against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, DePuy Orthopedics, Inc., states that the man was 40 years old when the Pinnacle Hip device was surgically implanted in his right hip on July 31, 2007. (Case No. 3:14-cv-02428-K) According to the DePuy hip implant lawsuit, the man underwent a revision surgery to remove the hip implant on December 10, 2013. After the surgery, the man began to have pain and tenderness in his right hip and groin that has not gone away, the Pinnacle hip lawsuit stated. This DePuy Pinnacle complaint was filed with other DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuits pending in multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas before Judge Ed Kinkeade. There are currenly over 6,200 DePuy Hip lawsuit currently filed all of which contend painful hip implant side-effects including revision surgeries, chronic pain and metallosis or blood poisoning. (In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2244)
The attorneys at Wright & Schulte LLC are representing plaintiffs in DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuits. DePuy Pinnacle hip implant recipients may be eligible to file their own lawsuit if they experienced elevated metal ion levels, chronic pain, metallosis, premature hip failure, or any other complication allegedly related to the medical device's all-metal design. To learn more, or to arrange for a free legal consultation with an attorney at Wright & Schulte LLC, please visit yourlegalhelp.com.
The Ohio man’s recently filed DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit purports that DePuy had received hundreds of complaints about the Pinnacle Hip medical device by the time he received his implant. The complaint accuses the DePuy and Johnson & Johnson of knowing that the DePuy Pinnacle hip device was defective, concealing the known defect from doctors and their patients, and misrepresenting the medical device as safe and effective. The DePuy Pinnacle complaint further contends that the defendants should have recalled the Pinnacle Hip before it was sold to the Ohio man. The DePuy complaint alleges that the man may need additional future surgeries and faces possible metal poisoning, bone loss, chronic pain, a decreased quality of life and other serious medical problems.
Johnson & Johnson stopped selling metal-on-metal and ceramic-on-metal hip replacement systems after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) proposed changes in the way all-metal hip implant devices are regulated. The proposal called for makers of hip replacement systems to undergo the FDA’s process of scientific and regulatory review that evaluates the safety and effectiveness of such high risk medical devices. Johnson & Johnson told Bloomberg that it also stopped selling the all-metal hip implants because sales in the U.S. and Europe had declined since 2007 after doctors began questioning the safety of the hip implants and patients began filing lawsuits. [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.com/news/2013-05-16/j-j-will-stop-sales-of-metal-on-metal-hip-replacements.html, May 17, 2013]
According to the FDA, metal-on-metal replacement hip systems have a metal femoral head or ball, that rotates within a metal cup. The metal ball and the metal cup rub against each other during walking or running. This movement causes metal particles to wear off the device and fall into the space around the hip implant. Some of the metal ions from the all-metal implant or from the metal particles will enter an implant recipient’s bloodstream, according to the FDA. Over time, the metal particles can cause damage to bone or tissue surrounding the implant and joint. The FDA advises recipients of all-metal hip implants to have a blood test if they experience pain in the groin, hip or leg, swelling at or near the hip joint, or a limp or change in their walking ability, to determine whether they have excessive levels of metal ions in their blood. [fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/MetalonMetalHipImplants/ucm241604.htm, January 17, 2013]
Court records indicate that DePuy hip implant lawsuits pending under MDL 2244 contend that DePuy’s Pinnacle Hip device is designed differently than most hip replacement systems in that it uses a metal acetabular liner and a metal femoral ball. According to the lawsuits, the Pinnacle Hip forces metal to rub against metal with the full weight and pressure of the hip implant recipient’s body. The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits contend that because of the alleged defective design of the medical device, hundreds of recipients have, or will be forced, to undergo surgeries to replace the failed hip implants. The contention of premature hip implant failure will be presented in the first Pinnacle bellwether trial that got underway this week in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas. (Herlihy-Paoli v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., 11-cv-3590). The jury trial involves a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Montana woman who alleges that her DePuy Pinnacle hip implant failed prematurely due to the defective design. The complaint further alleges that the failure of the hip implant caused metal particles to enter her bloodstream. The DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit also said the woman had to undergo revision surgery to remove the all-metal hip implant.
[bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-02/j-j-s-pinnacle-hips-face-first-trial-on-poisoned-patients.html, Bloomberg.com, September 2, 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. If you’re looking for a law firm that will guarantee the aggressive and personal representation you deserve, please do not hesitate to contact Wright & Schulte LLC today. Free DePuy Pinnacle hip implant lawsuit case evaluations are available 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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