San Diego, CA (PRWEB) August 12, 2013
http://www.resource4thepeople.com/defectivemedicaldevices/DePuy-ASR-hip-implant.html
Resource4thePeople is informing consumers today that a federal judge overseeing thousands of lawsuits alleging that DePuy Orthopaedics metal-on-metal hip implants failed and caused serious side effects has scheduled the first bellwether trial from the cases.
U.S. District Judge David Katz from the Northern District of Ohio has posted an order scheduling McCracken v. DePuy (Case No. 1:11dp20485) to be tried Sept. 9, 2013 at the U.S. Courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
The case involves claims by a New York woman who is seeking damages for serious health problems she claims she suffered as a result of a 2009 DePuy ASR metal-on-metal hip implant that she alleges failed soon afterward, according to the court file.
“This is an important development that will have an effect on the thousands of other DePuy metal hip implant lawsuits that have been consolidated by the federal court system under the supervision of Judge Katz,” said Resource4thePeople.
“Bellwether cases are selected because they typify the majority of the cases involved and provide lawyers from both sides the opportunity to test the strengths and weaknesses of their cases before juries.”
Resource4thePeople, in continuing to provide updates about metal hip implant litigation, also announced that its national network of attorneys will continue to provide free consultations for consumers who also allegedly suffered health problems from metal hip implant systems.
“The fact that a bellwether case has been chosen does not prevent other consumers from seeking information about what legal rights they may have to seek compensation for injuries suffered from metal hip implants,” said Resource4thePeople.
“Many consumers still may be eligible to file such a lawsuit but all cases are different and there may be legal time limits involved so it is important that consumers seek consultations about the merits of their metal hip implant claims as soon as possible.”
The allegations involved in the huge multidistrict litigation* underway in Ohio are described on the litigation website:
“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.”
Meanwhile, Resource4thePeople is reporting that another key trial has been scheduled from over 600 such state court cases** which make similar allegations against DePuy systems in New Jersey state court.
Court files in the litigation show that an Oct. 21, 2013 trial date for the state bellwether trial has been scheduled by Judge Brian R. Martinotti, who was assigned to oversee pre-trial evidence-gathering and other legal actions in the consolidated litigation.
"These cases involve serious allegations by hundreds of plaintiffs that these metal-on-metal hip implants, which have since been recalled by the manufacturer, failed and caused severe pain, infections and other side effects,” said Resource4thePeople.
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.
Bloomberg News reported*** May 17, 2013 that company officials said the decision to halt sales was not caused by a massive 2010 recall of the company's ASR metal-on-metal hip systems or more than 10,000 lawsuits that have been filed over allegations that the systems were defectively designed.
Bloomberg also reported that "metal-on-metal hip sales in the U.S. and Europe plunged from 20 percent of the market in 2007 to less than 2 percent last year as doctors questioned their safety and patients filed lawsuits citing flawed products."
In the first U.S. trial**** involving the DePuy metal systems allegations, a Los Angeles jury found on March 8, 2013 that DePuy and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson must pay a Montana man $8.3 in damages on a finding that the DePuy ASR system was defectively designed.
Jurors awarded damages to Loren Kransky, a 65-year-old former prison guard who claimed he suffered serious health problems after an ASR system failed and metal debris was spread through his body, according to the court file.
Kransky had an ASR hip implanted in 2007 and was forced to have it replaced in 2012 after suffering pain and infections from the metal infecting his blood and nearby tissues, according to the court file.
In their court filings, Kransky’s lawyers filed allegations that DePuy was negligent because their research staff did not use a variety of angulations in testing the ASR metal cup and only tested one of several sizes.
Then, a Chicago jury***** returned a verdict in favor of DePuy Orthopaedics and against a woman who claimed DePuy metal-on-metal hip implant systems were defectively designed and that the company failed to warn patients of serious side effects that could be caused by the devices.
Sources:
*In re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL-2197, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
**In Re: DePuy ASR Hip Implants Litigation, BER-L-3971-11, Superior Court, Bergen County, New Jersey
***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