J&J DePuy Pinnacle Metal Hip Verdict

Latest J&J DePuy Pinnacle Metal Hip Verdict. Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary DePuy have been whacked again in the latest Texas DePuy Pinnacle Hip Implant case to go to trial.

The latest round of Johnson & Johnson DePuy Pinnacle hip failure bellwether trials had just finished in the Northern District of Texas federal court, based in Dallas, Texas.

The Texas federal jury whacked Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. unit with a combined $247 million verdict, including punitive damages over DePuy’s Pinnacle line of metal-on-metal hip implants. This is the third in a row nine-figure verdict in the multidistrict litigation.

Texas DePuy Pinnacle Hip Implant Trial

This trial involved six consolidated New York plaintiffs who claim serious side effects and injuries related to the premature failure of their Pinnacle device.

Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company and medical device maker, and its DePuy subsidiary are under fire over allegations involving its Pinnacle/Ultamet line of metal hip devices which are prone to metal poisoning and premature failure according to lawsuits.

Texas DePuy Pinnacle Hip Implant Trial

In May 2011, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized pretrial proceedings in the cases before Judge Kinkeade in the in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation.

The Texas federal court has more than 9,000 hip implant lawsuits, involving the Johnson and Johnson DePuy Orthopaedics’ Pinnacle Hip Replacement system that uses the metal Ultamet liner.

What is the problem with the DePuy Pinnacle hip system?

Over the past several years medical studies have found that some all-metal implants can release dangerous amounts of toxic cobalt and chromium metal ions particles locally into the hip joint and the bloodstream, causing severe local tissue reactions and premature failure complications that require painful revision surgery to remove and replace the implant. This metallic debris causes the medical condition known as metallosis.

The FDA announced warnings about metal on metal hip implant complications.

Why won’t DePuy announce a recall over its Pinnacle/Ultamet liner system?

This is not the first ride at the rodeo for Johnson and Johnson and its subsidiary DePuy, the makers of the Pinnacle/Ultamet liner system.

DePuy announced a global hip replacement recall for its ASR line of metal implants in August 2010, after worldwide reports of metallosis and premature hip failure. Johnson & Johnson in 2013 had agreed to pay at least $2.5 billion to settle more than 9,000 lawsuits over DePuy ASR hip replacements, which feature a metal-on-metal design that has been described as a “substantial equivalent” to the Pinnacle hip

Since the premature failure and metal toxicity rates are similar between the two implant designs, many folks now question why the company has not taken similar action in regards to the Pinnacle/Ultamet liner combination. Cynics point to the billions of dollars that Johnson and Johnson have made in profits from the DePuy Pinnacle line of implants as being the motivating factor.

Johnson and Johnson Pinnacle hip trials

The first Texas DePuy Pinnacle Metal Hip Trial in 2014 ended with a win for the defense.

In the second Texas DePuy Pinnacle Metal Hip Trial in 2016, the five plaintiffs were awarded a total of $500 million. The jury award was reduced to $151 million, in order to comply with Texas law governing punitive damages.

In the third bellwether trial in 2017 the six damaged Pinnacle patients were awarded more than $1 billion. That judgment was later reduced to $543 million.

Injured by a failed DePuy Pinnacle Metal Hip?

If you think you may have a DePuy Pinnacle Metal Hip and are experiencing pain caused by metal corrosion or have suffered a hip failure requiring full revision and emergency care, please call Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm at 888-210-9693.