Metal Hip Implant Lawsuits May Cost $ Billions

Medical device manufacturers could be on the hook for billions of dollars as a result of product liability lawsuits associated with their metal-on-metal hip replacement systems. These metal on metal artificial hips are failing in thousands of people, resulting in severe pain and the need for additional revision surgery.

Scope of the Problem

Metal-on-metal hip implants quickly account for about one-third of the 250,000 hip replacements performed each year in the United States.

Recently, concerns have increased about a risk metal hip replacement complications, resulting in use of the implants dropping to just 5% of the artificial hip market.

Recent medical studies and research suggests that as the metal hip replacement parts grind against each other, microscopic particles of cobalt and chromium may be shed into the body, which can result in metal poisoning. This is known as metallosis. This may result in soft tissue damage, inflammatory reactions, bone loss, local necrosis or other problems that may lead to the need for a risky hip revision surgery.

According to a report by experts, as many as half a million Americans may have the all-metal hip implants, and a significant number of them are likely to file a lawsuit after their implants fail.

DePuy August 2010 Recall

In August 2010, a DePuy ASR metal hip implant recall affected 93,000 implants worldwide and about 40,000 sold in the United States.

At the time of the recall, DePuy and Johnson & Johnson, their parent company, claimed that about 12% of the ASR hip implants will fail within five years.

International Failure Data

More recent international data from the National Joint Registry for England and Wales indicates that nearly a third of patients will experience problems within six years and other estimates suggest that as many as half of all individuals who received the recalled hip system may eventually experience loosening or failure of their implant.

DePuy Lawsuits Filed

Currently 3,500, of those who received the implant in the U.S. have already filed a DePuy ASR hip lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and DePuy. As more hip implants fail over time, the number of people filing product liability claims against manufacturers is likely to increase.

A recent report by financial experts suggests that DePuy and other manufacturers of similar implants could face $5 billion in legal costs and settlement fees associated with the lawsuits over metal-on-metal hip replacements.

These DePuy cases are consolidated in the northern District of Ohio for pre-trial matters. MDL 2197 DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation

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