DePuy Pinnacle Lawsuit News: Bernstein Liebhard LLP Comments on Impending Metal-on-Metal Hip Ban in UK Hospitals
New York, New York (PRWEB) October 29, 2013 -- As DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits (http://www.depuypinnacle-lawsuit.com/) involving a metal-on-metal version of the DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacement System continue to move forward in courts throughout the U.S., Bernstein Liebhard LLP notes that regulators in the U.K. may be close to banning the use of most metal-on-metal hip implants in NHS hospitals. According to a report published by The Telegraph, draft guidance prepared by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) directs the NHS to stop using any hip implant with a failure rate higher than 5% at five years. The regulator decided to act after research involving 17,000 patients fitted with such devices uncovered failure rates as high as 43 percent among some types of metal-on-metal hip implants.*
“Our Firm is representing hundreds of clients in Pinnacle hip lawsuits that involve a metal-on-metal version of the DePuy Pinnacle hip, and we also continue to hear from individuals fitted with other all-metal hips. In light of the failure rates associated with these devices, news that NICE may be close to implementing a metal-on-metal hip ban in NHS hospitals is not really surprising,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing the victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm continues to offer free legal evaluations to alleged victims of serious complications associated with metal-on-metal hip implants.
DePuy Pinnacle Lawsuits
In the U.S., court documents indicate that more than 4,600 DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits involving a metal-on-metal version of the hip system that utilizes the Ultamet liner have been filed in a multidistrict litigation underway in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas. All of the plaintiffs with claims pending in that proceeding have suffered metallosis, premature device failure, and other serious complications, allegedly due to toxic metal debris that may be shed when the hip's metal components wear. Pinnacle hip lawsuits also claim that the all-metal Pinnacle shares similarities in design to the ASR hip replacement, which DePuy Orthopaedics recalled in 2010, and question whether or not it should have been removed from the market as well. Jeffrey S. Grand, a partner with Bernstein Liebhard LLP, serves on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the federal Pinnacle hip litigation. (In re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2244)
Metal-on-metal hip implants have also attracted the scrutiny of regulators in the U.S. In January 2013, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) advised any patient fitted with all-metal hips to undergo metal ion testing if they were experiencing signs or symptoms of device failure. The agency has also proposed new rules that would subject all-metal hips to greater regulatory scrutiny. In May 2013, Bloomberg.com reported that DePuy Orthopaedics had decided to phase out sales of metal-on-metal hip implants, including the all-metal Pinnacle, in part due to recent FDA actions.**
Alleged victims of the all-metal Pinnacle hip may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and other injury-related damages. Learn More about Pinnacle hip lawsuits at Bernstein Liebhard LLP’s website. For a free case review, please call 800-511-5092 today.
*telegraph.co.uk/health/nhs/10406198/NHS-hospitals-to-be-banned-from-fitting-metal-on-metal-hip-replacements-after-high-failure-rate.html, The Telegraph, October 25, 2013
**bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-16/j-j-will-stop-sales-of-metal-on-metal-hip-replacements.html, Bloomberg.com, May 17, 2013
About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993, including those who have been harmed by dangerous drugs, defective medical devices and consumer products. The firm has been named by The National Law Journal to the “Plaintiffs’ Hot List,” recognizing the top plaintiffs’ firms in the country, for
the past 11 consecutive years.
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ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. © 2013 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, 800-511-5092. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.
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Contact Information:
Felecia L. Stern, Esq.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP
info(at)consumerinjurylawyers(dot)com
http://www.depuypinnacle-lawsuit.com/
Felecia L. Stern, DePuy Pinnacle Lawsuit Information Center, http://www.depuypinnacle-lawsuit.com/, +1 800-511-5092, [email protected]
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