U.S. District Judge Expects DePuy MDL to Move Forward

A recent meeting between the Judge chosen to oversee the multi-district litigation in the DePuy Pinnacle hip implant case included attorneys from both sides. The goal of the meeting was to determine the most practical manner of handling the more than 1,000 current DePuy lawsuits. U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade—judge for the northern district of Texas—will use the MDL in the interest of expediting and coordinating these consolidated pre-trial proceedings. Unlike many MDL cases, the DePuy case appears to be moving forward with case management procedures expected in the next six weeks to two months.

The initial MDL trials in the DePuy Pinnacle cases are bellwether trials with a purpose of choosing representative cases from those filed to determine how juries will likely react to evidence which is common to all the cases. During a bellwether trial the judge and attorneys are able to gain knowledge which will be helpful in negotiating future DePuy lawsuits. The process dictates that representative attorneys will be chosen to try the DePuy bellwether trials; the knowledge gained from these trials will be extremely helpful in planning strategies and setting precedence for future Pinnacle cases. All attorneys involved in litigating the DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants will be watching the bellwether cases closely as well as the entire MDL.

Serious Complications Resulting From Metal-on-Metal Implants

Plaintiffs involved in the DePuy Pinnacle MDL lawsuit allege they suffered serious complications from the company’s metal-on-metal hip implant. One of the primary complications experienced by recipients includes the premature death of surrounding tissue and soft-tissue damage resulting from exposure to metal shavings caused by the metal ball and joint rubbing against one another. Many of those with the Pinnacle implant have been found to have elevated levels of cobalt and chromium in their bloodstream as a result of these metal shavings. These elevated levels of can lead to kidney and liver damage as well as potentially causing certain cancers. Patients have also experienced chronic and severe pain in the groin area and back and loosening of the implant device which causes immobility.

DePuy marketed a similar implant device, the ASR hip implant, which was recalled in 2010 due to higher-than-expected early failure rates. In spite of this, the Pinnacle remained on the market and the manufacturer failed to warn patients and physicians of the possible serious side effects. As far as the DePuy Pinnacle MDL goes, while the specifics of each case will naturally vary, they nonetheless must have a common claim. The common claim in the Pinnacle case is that every plaintiff experienced severe complications as a direct result of the metal-on-metal hip implant and that neither they nor their physicians were properly warned. There are over 1,200 lawsuits currently filed against DePuy with litigation pending in California and Georgia as well as Texas.

Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants Suffer High Failure Rate

Over 400,000 recipients of the metal-on-metal hip implant were followed in a British study. These surgeries occurred between 2003 and 2010, and the study results showed that within a five-year period of time over 6% of the implants failed completely. Therefore metal-on-metal hip implants are more than two-and-a-half times more likely to fail than a comparable implant constructed from plastic or ceramic. While it is impossible to predict which patients will suffer adverse reactions from the hip implant, the number of patients coming forward to take part in a DePuy lawsuit continues to rise.