The first ever DePuy ASR hip implant cases set for a jury trial inNevada has recently settled. It was supposed to be the first courtroom battle in the country of patients with the defective ASR hip replacement against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics, manufacturer of said hip implant. In December later this year, a Las Vegas Nevada state court judge was scheduled to preside over a jury trial of three plaintiffs against DePuy Orthopaedics for problems that the DePuy ASR hip replacement caused. All three of the patients had their ASR hip devices removed and replaced (revised). However, in what is breaking news, that Nevada trial is no longer going to go forward as originally scheduled because the parties have recently agreed to a confidential settlement. December 2012 was to be the first time that Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics was going to appear in court and explain what caused their hip product to create so many problems for patients who had their product implanted. This DePuy ASR hip implant settlement ends any showdown that was supposed to occur inLas Vegas. Like many settlements involving larger corporations like Johnson & Johnson, the terms of this settlement remain confidential. It is unfortunate that without the threat of a trial, the defendants DePuy and J&J has not compensated harmed patients that have had to undergo surgery to replace the defective device that they manufactured.
While the December 2012 trial is no longer moving forward given the settlement, there is another jury trial set by a Maryland state court judge set to begin in January 2013. The Maryland trial is also on behalf of three patients with recalled DePuy ASR hip implant that had to be replaced. In the event that a settlement is not reached prior to January 2013, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics will have to explain what caused the defective hip product.
Both the December 2012 lawsuit and the January 2013 lawsuits were filed because Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy, led thousands of patients with damaged hips to believe that their now recalled ASR Hip Replacement System, which uses a metal-on-metal device, would improve the pain and mobility of their hip. However, the danger of a metal-on-metal device has proven to be just as harmful as a damaged hip, if not more so in many cases based on our investigations. The implant contains the elements cobalt and chromium, which can be hazardous, and promote an inflammatory response that damages the surrounding tissue and bone. Shards of this metal have been known to grind off of the ASR hip implant damaging surrounding tissues and muscles, resulting in an increased level of these dangerous metal ions in the body. This can cause intense leg, hip, or groin pains, and in many cases patients have reported pain to the point of immobility.
To date there are more than 8,000 claims pending in the federal court and state courts. Childers, Schlueter & Smith, LLC is a leading firm in Georgia handling and litigating DePuy ASR hip implant claims. To date, our office has filed more than 160 individual claims on behalf of Georgians and other ASR victims from around the Country. It is unclear how many trials will have to be tried before DePuy and J&J will step up to do the right thing and acknowledge the harms and misery created by there ASR hip implant products and further agree to compensate the victims for the past, present and future harms expected from this recalled device.
Contact us for assistance or any questions in preserving a claim before any potential statute of limitations may run.