Status of the DePuy ASR Litigation

The DePuy ASR hip implant received FDA approval in 2005, yet merely five years later the device was being recalled due to the excessively high failure rate of the implant. The ASR is an all-metal hip implant which is constructed of cobalt and chromium. When the metal ball rubs against the metal acetabular cup during periods of activity, tiny metal ions are released into the body, becoming lodged in the surrounding tissues or entering into the bloodstream. Although DePuy’s Pinnacle hip implant has suffered some of the same problems, it has not yet been recalled. The ASR was recalled in August of 2010, and lawsuits began flooding in soon after.

For those under the two year statute of limitations, that time period ran this past August. This means that even those recipients of the ASR who have been harmed by the hip implant or have been forced to undergo revision surgery because the implant failed may not be able to participate in the ongoing lawsuits. A very knowledgeable attorney may be able to argue that the person was unaware of the recall or did not have serious symptoms until after the SOL ran, so it is important that anyone with a recalled ASR hip implant see an attorney as soon as possible. Cobalt and chromium from the metal shards can lead to tissue necrosis and, in turn, chronic, severe pain. The metal ions can cause bone loss, inflammation, implant failure or can cause symptoms of metal toxicity.

It is believed that the majority of ASR cases are presently on file—over 6,000. Following the December, 2010 recall, the ASR litigation was consolidated in an MDL before Ohio U.S. District Judge, David A. Katz for pretrial proceedings. MDL’s allow all those involved to share discovery and avoid any type of inconsistent pretrial rulings from various judges across the United States. The MDL process makes the lawsuits much more efficient, and it is believed the first round of MDL lawsuits will be heard in May of 2013 with the second round being heard in June, 2013.  Outside the MDL litigation, three cases which were slated to be heard on December 3, 2012 were settled by Johnson & Johnson and DePuy for a reported $600,000. Each of the three plaintiffs in the Nevada cases claimed they underwent expensive and painful revision surgeries due to the failure of the ASR.

This past August high-ranking executives of DePuy received notice of deposition. Both the President at the time of the recall as well as the President of DePuy who took over in June of 2011 received notice of deposition as well as six other DePuy executives. The New York Times reported in February of 2012 that even though the FDA refused to approve one particular variation of the ASR hip implant—stating the device did not meet standards due to the early failure rates—DePuy failed to act on this information. It is imperative that you speak to an attorney as quickly as possible if you are an ASR recipient.