Wednesday, June 20, 2012

DePuy Multi-District Litigation Moving Quickly

U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade—the judge overseeing the multi-district litigation regarding DePuy Pinnacle hip implants—held a meeting on April 25, 2012 in which he discussed with both side’s attorneys the quickest way to manage the over 1,000 lawsuits contained in the MDL. A multi-district litigation is frequently used for pre-trial purposes with a goal of expediting and coordinating the consolidated pre-trial proceedings. This particular MDL case appears to be moving along quickly, with the parties involved expected to announce a case management procedure within the next couple of months.

The first MDL trials in the DePuy cases are known as bellwether trials meaning they are considered representative of all the DePuy lawsuits. These bellwether cases allow both judge and attorneys to get a good sense of how juries will respond to the common evidence between the cases. Lawyers will be chosen to represent the specific bellwether trials, and the knowledge gleaned will be used to negotiate future settlements, to plan future strategies or will be considered to set precedence in future lawsuits. These bellwether trials are extremely important for DePuy hip lawyers down the line, so attorneys involved in these cases will be watching the bellwether cases closely.

Plaintiff’s Claims Regarding DePuy Pinnacle Hip Complications

The plaintiffs who are involved in the MDL lawsuits allege complications from the DePuy Pinnacle hip implant including chronic and severe pain, joint stiffness leading to immobility, and metallosis. Metallosis results from the metal-on-metal implant friction between ball and joint which causes microscopic metal shavings to rub off, potentially entering the blood stream. Should the chromium and cobalt particles get into the bloodstream kidney or liver damage as well as a whole host of other serious medical issues can arise.

While the DePuy ASR hip implant was recalled in 2010, the Pinnacle remained on the market. Although the specifics vary in each DePuy lawsuit the multi-district litigation ensures there is a common claim. In this case that common claim centers around the fact that each plaintiff suffered serious complications from the DePuy Pinnacle hip implant and that the manufacturer of the implant failed to properly warn patients and physicians about the potential dangers. As of this date, over 1200 people have filed lawsuits against DePuy following severe complications from the metal-on-metal hip implant. Litigation is also pending in Georgia and California in addition to the current MDL in Texas.

Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants Suffer High Failure Rate

A British study followed 400,000 hip replacement surgeries performed between 2003 and 2010 and found that within five years as many as 6% of the metal-on-metal implants suffered complete failure. This means the metal-on-metal implant is over two-and-a-half times more likely to fail than a ceramic or plastic implant. Even though orthopedic surgeons take multiple precautions during the surgery in order to minimize the wear between the ball and socket, it is impossible to avoid this type of friction entirely. Different recipients of the metal-on-metal implant will react to the metal particles in entirely different ways, and doctors cannot predict which reactions will occur and how severe they will be.

Author: Sullo & Sullo Attorneys

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