Cases against the manufacturers of hip implants have been one of the most watched proceedings because of the increasing number of lawsuits filed by patients, news reports say. The consolidated cases against DePuy ASR are still pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, according to court reports. Consolidating the numerous cases filed against one of the divisions of Johnson & Johnson – DePuy Orthopedics, helps in facilitate efficiency during the pre-trial proceedings. Several bellwether trials are also conducted to help determine the value of the lawsuits. After these bellwether trials, plaintiffs may decide whether to go through with the trial or settle the complaint outside the court.


There are about 8,625 cases against DePuy and new cases joining the multidistrict litigation are being monitored by the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML). District Court Judge David A. Katz is the one who is uncharged of these cases. The developments on these multidistrict litigations are monitored closely.

 

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DePuy ASR Hip Recall Multidistrict Litigation Update: Number of Cases Grows

Former Montanao state prison guard Loren Kransky seek  a total of $184.3 million in   compensatory and punitive damages after jurors in Los Angeles heard closing arguments over artificial hip implant manufacturer DePuy Orthopaedics liable for allegedly marketing a defective product and failing to inform the complainant about the negative impact associated with it, court records show.

Kransky’s case is the first out of 10,750 lawsuits to go on trial this year over the recalled implant of DePuy, about which his lawyer Brian Panish stated that Johnson & Johnson sacrificed the quality of their metal-on-metal hips over pursuit of profit. Moreover, DePuy failed to inform doctors about the risk if its hip prosthesis becomes defective. Because of this, Panish demanded for his client compensatory damages amounting to $5.3 million and punitive damages reaching $179 million.

DePuy Orthopeadics, a business unit of Johnson & Johnson, recalled its ASR hip systems in 2010 after an unpublished report from the National Joint Registry of Wales came out regarding the alarming growth in number of its failing hip implants in the United Kingdom (UK), medical experts say. Unfortunately, the United States at that time has no monitoring group to track any medical devices which have had high failing rates.

However, after the product recall in 2010, several patients in the United States realized that they are not alone in this misfortune of suffering from a defective implant and started seeking for legal help in obtaining compensatory damages.

Last year, DePuy has exerted necessary efforts of settling the lawsuits filed with a settlement offer of $200,000 per case, against which some of the plaintiffs have had declined and for which most of them went on claiming for higher compensation, as has been the case of Kransky, 65, a former prison guard in the State of Montana.

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Jurors Hear Closing Arguments in California DePuy ASR Trial

In the older days, those who usually undergo hip replacement surgery were the ageing people. But nowadays it caters to all ages, medical experts say.  What is surprising is that there are younger patients who avail of such surgery after DePuy Orthopeadics, a unit of Johnson and Johnson, positioned their two ASR hip implants for younger patients who are suffering from hip pains and  who were deprived of the capability to move normally and who wanted to restore their normal mobility. Unfortunately, in 2010 the company recalled 93,000 of its products after many of them were being reported as defective. U to 8,000 patients had filed a lawsuit for compensatory damages claim. The latest development is that its Maryland DePuy trial was halted because a plaintiff is planning to switch to federal courts.

Those younger patients are the ones who are in dilemma right after they availed of hip surgery; some of those are professional athletes whose careers will be greatly affected with a question -- wondering on their minds if they can be as competitive as before right after the hip replacement surgery.

While pain relief has historically been the reason for which patients undergo surgery, the need to improve joint function has also become motivating for patients, especially those into athletics activities. Patients and orthopedic surgeons do not necessarily worry about the same things after the surgery.  The patients are focused on pain relief and regaining normal functions. Surgeons, on the other hand, are mainly concerned about pain relief and the effectiveness of the hip replacement, especially how long will it last among patients and how much affirmation goes with the hope that there will be no problems with it.

There are patients who are already too eager to get into high-impact sporting activities. Most doctors will still have reservations because they usually recommend low-impact sports to steer them away from high-impact sports in an effort to prolong the life of the artificial hip implant.

Patients should not be in a hurry to get back to their normal lives to avoid complication and falling into a failed hip implant. Medical experts believes that  patients may need to consider that high-impact sports such as running, tennis, basketball may increase stress on the newly implanted hips and may cause wearing out quickly. To know more about related issues, check  DePuy Hip Recall Lawsuit Center .

URL REFERENCES:
arthritis.about.com/od/jtreplace/a/athletics.htm
livestrong.com/artificial-hip-replacement/
sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/joint-replacements.htm

After more than 500,000 metal-on-metal hip replacements from companies such as DePuy have experienced early failure, becoming the subjects of hip replacement lawsuits and hip recalls, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Jan. 17 that it would seek to tighten regulations on these devices, according to a New York Times report.

(PRWEB) January 17, 2013

After more than 500,000 metal-on-metal hip replacements from companies such as DePuy have experienced early failure, becoming the subjects of hip replacement lawsuits and hip recalls, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Jan. 17 that it would seek to tighten regulations on these devices, according to a New York Times report.

The Rottenstein Law Group is encouraged by this proposal, which according to the Times [report calls for makers of metal-on-metal hip replacements to prove the safety and efficacy of such devices before they can continue to sell existing ones or obtain approval for new metal-on-metal hip designs.

The new proposal fixes a glaring error in the FDA’s previous approval process, the Times said. The 510(k) process allows companies to gain approval for devices without clinical trials if the devices resemble ones already approved and on the market. This led to approval of several metal-on-metal hip replacement systems because the designs were similar enough to previous ceramic hip implants.

Read full story at PRWeb.com: Rottenstein Law Group Encouraged by FDA’s Plan to Tighten Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement Regulations