Articles Posted in Product Liability

MDL Panel Hearing For Texas DePuy Hip Replacement Litigation

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) is meeting on November 18 in Durham, North Carolina.to centralize all federal DePuy ASR recall lawsuits.

The DePuy metal-on-metal hip was recalled after medical data suggested that about one out of every 8 people, if not more, who received the artificial hip may have their DePuy ASR hip fail within five years.

As a Dallas Depuy Hip Recall Attorney, I am fielding many calls from concerned plaintiffs regarding their implanted DePuy ASR Metal on Metal Hip prosthesis.

Many plaintiffs are understandably concerned, about what to do next once they receive a certified letter from their orthopedic doctor, allegedly ghost written by DePuy.

Many folks are asked to get a blood test and are asked to sign over their hip surgery medical records. Patients with the metal hip devices have suffered pain and inflammation from device malfunction, and have endured metallosis when the grinding of metal parts in the hip implants releases cobalt and chromium into their bloodstream.

As a Dallas DePuy Recall attorney I am concern about the risks of Cobalt and Chromium poisoning, resulting from the metal on metal grinding of the DePuy ASR Prosthetic Hips.

In August of this year, DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., recalled the ASR metal-on-metal hip replacement system, admitting that about one out of every eight patients who receives the hip implant may experience early hip failure within five years. The actual ratio of defective hips may be as high as one out of five or 20%, or even higher.

Structeral design and manufacturing problems with the DePuy metal-on-metal hip replacement system allow the toxic release of chromium and cobalt to be absorbed into the blood-stream.

As a Fort Worth DePuy Hip Product Liability attorney I took an interesting potential client inquiry. The woman had hip replacement and she has noticed that her hair is falling out in clumps, suggesting toxic metal ion poisoning., which is described below.

DePuy XL ASR Prosthetic Hips are unique, in that they involve metal on metal grinding during a patient’s ambulation. While the metal design may have have sounded good in theory, they have turned out horribly bad in clinical practice.

Patients then develop 2 types of problems. The repetitive grinding motion, leads to microscopic wearing down of the articular surfaces and the release of metallic ions, particularly cobalt and chromium, into the tissues surrounding the hip. The metal becomes fatigued and leads to early failure.

Also there is the resultant loosening and dislocation of the device resulting in the need for early hip revision surgery and/or the release of metal debris causing tissue damage.

This absorption of metallic ions in the tissues, leads to an inflammatory reaction, resulting in pain, swelling and immobility. The absorption of metallic ions into the bloodstream leads to cobalt and chromium toxicity. Polyneuropathy is caused by cobalt–chromium metallosis after total hip replacement. Read the article here.

artificial hip joint; biopsy; metal intoxication; polyneuropathy; toxic neuropathy

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Today as a Fort Worth DePuy ASR Hip Lawsuit attorney, I took in a case for DePuy ASR product liability lawsuits that we are filing.

Johnson and Johnson acknowledged in August, with the withdrawal from the market their artificial hips, that there are problems with high failure rates, metal on metal grinding and release of metal ions into the joints.

Now class actions lawsuits are being filed across the nation.

Approximately 30,000 DePuy hips have been implanted in the US alone. There is a Fort Worth orthopedic group that has implanted 800, over the past 6 years.

DePuy is paying orthopedic doctors $50 to hand over their patients medical records and grabbing the artificial joints when they get removed. Both of these acts should be resisted at all costs. This is unethical, and you risk the loss of key evidence of a defective product. We are storing our clients DePuy artificial hips in storage bottled containing formalin.

I would encourage all patients who have had a DePuy hip implanted to seek legal advice, and to safeguard their legal rights. If you have one of the DePuy ASR hip systems, you have the potential of a legal claim. Potential recoveries include compensation for your medical bills, lost wages and your pain and suffering.

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