Sullo & Sullo Attorneys Plaintiff Selected for DePuy Pinnacle Bellwether Case in the Northern District of Texas U.S. District Court
HOUSTON, TX, March 12, 2015—A court order on February 18, 2015, established ten bellwether trials for the Johnson & Johnson and DePuy Pinnacle metal hip litigation. This decision came on the heels of the first Pinnacle metal hip defense verdict reached in late 2014, in favor of the defendant. Despite testimony that the Pinnacle hip devices were the template for the controversial ASR, Pinnacle attorneys countered the Plaintiff’s injuries were a result of surgeon error, rather than design flaws related to the device.
The Houston law offices of Sullo & Sullo, LLP represent a number of Pinnacle clients on a noteworthy docket. One of the Sullo & Sullo plaintiffs is among those ten bellwether cases selected for trial. Bellwether cases are common during mass tort litigation; the purpose of a bellwether case is to choose cases representative of all the cases in order to determine how a jury will react to evidence common to all the cases. All those involved in the DePuy Pinnacle litigation will follow these bellwether cases closely in order to map out future strategies.
Johnson & Johnson has continued to defend the Pinnacle hip, despite the recent $2.5 billion settlement in the J & J and DePuy ASR hip settlement. Unlike the ASR, the Pinnacle has not been recalled, and continues to be sold and implanted despite the more than 6,000 Pinnacle lawsuits currently filed. The design of the Pinnacle metal hip is similar to the ASR. While experts have deemed the Pinnacle somewhat safer than the ASR, the Pinnacle nonetheless shows higher-than-normal failure rates. The upcoming bellwether trials will be a key indicator of whether Johnson & Johnson will continue to fight the Pinnacle cases, or come to a settlement agreement as with the ASR litigation.
More than 1,800 adverse event reports were received by the FDA regarding the Pinnacle in 2010 and 2011. The Pinnacle gained FDA approval in 2000, however after numerous complaints were received DePuy shortened the taper and added grooves to the Pinnacle design in 2004. Many physicians feel an additional ten percent of the Pinnacle hip devices will fail within the next 1-2 years. A UK study of 1,000 patients showed a Pinnacle failure rate of 8% at five years and 16% at 6.5 years.
Sullo & Sullo attorneys continue to gather pertinent evidence and information in anticipation of the upcoming Pinnacle bellwether trial. We are ready to assist any consumer harmed by a Pinnacle metal hip device. Perhaps you have experienced pain, inflammation, high chromium and cobalt levels, symptoms of metal poisoning or you have been told you must undergo hip revision surgery. Regardless of the level of complications or injuries you have sustained from your Pinnacle hip implant, Sullo & Sullo attorneys are committed to staying at the forefront of this litigation.
Contact:
Sullo & Sullo, LLP
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Houston, TX 77098
713-839-9026
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