Medical Manufacturer Faces Thousands of Personal Injury Lawsuits, Recalls Another Model of All-Metal Hip Replacement Device

Johnson & Johnson, and their subsidiary DePuy Orthopedics, faces thousands of personal injury lawsuits against their all-metal hip replacement devices in the United States alone. Now, the company is voluntarily recalling another model of all-metal hip replacement device, the Adept brand.

The company did note that none of the Adept model all-metal hip replacement devices were sold in the United States.

A spokesperson for J&J’s DePuy subsidiary stated that the recall was due to a higher-than-normal rate of failure for the all-metal hip replacement devices.

When a medical device, such as an artificial hip, needs to be replaced, it is called revision surgery. These surgeries are usually ordered when medical devices show signs of failing, such as when they cause pain, or patients have greater difficulty walking.

DePuy/Johnson & Johnson have reportedly recalled 7,500 of the Adept all-metal hip replacement devices. The implants were sold in 21 countries between 2004 and 2011, including Germany, but not including the United States.

J&J said that it reviewed data from national registries of joint replacement operations in two countries, and based on their findings, decided in mid-January to notify surgeons and hospitals that they were recalling the Adept all-metal hip replacement device based on failure rates.

A registry in the United Kingdom found that 12.1 percent of patients needed their implants replaced within seven years, while a registry in Australia found 7.1 percent of patients needed replacements within three years.

Spokeswomen for DePuy Orthopedics said that, should any patients experience problems after receiving one of the Adept hip implants, they should immediately contact their doctor.

J&J/DePuy Orthopedics Face Thousands of Personal Injury Lawsuits for All-Metal Hip Replacement Devices in the US

Two multidistrict litigations (MDLs) in the US plague the medical manufacturer. One is for the Pinnacle hip replacement device, and the other is for the ASR hip replacement device. Both devices are all-metal, and plaintiffs complain that the devices have higher failure rates than other hip replacement device materials like plastic or ceramic.

The first MDL, against the ASR all-metal hip replacement device, has one bellwether trial already in progress. Loren Kransky’s personal injury case went to trial in January 2013. Court documents released as part of the bellwether case reveal that Johnson & Johnson executives knew about the all-metal hip replacement devices’ flaws and high failure rates, but chose to release the defective products for sale anyway.

Even as the company began marketing versions of the all-metal hip devices in the US in 2005, they began receiving complaints from doctors and patients. In 2007, the device failed an internal test, in which its performance was compared to that of another of DePuy’s hip replacement devices. In 2011, another Johnson & Johnson internal analysis found that nearly 36% of the devices were expected to fail within 5 years.

By 2009, over 93,000 of the DePuy ASR hip replacement devices had been sold worldwide, with 37,000 sold specifically in the United States. Johnson & Johnson began to phase the DePuy ASR model out of production that year, claiming that sales were slowing, and the device worked as advertised. However, in mid-2010, they voluntarily recalled the ASR devices due to customer complaints.

The Strom Law Firm Can Help with All-Metal Hip Replacement Device Personal Injury Cases

If you or a loved one has received a metal hip replacement device, specifically from DePuy Orthopedics, and have since suffered painful side effects, you may be entitled to compensation. The attorneys at the Strom Law Firm can help. We offer free, confidential consultations to discuss the facts of your case, so do not hesitate to contact us. 803.252.4800.