San Diego Personal Injury Attorney

Depuy Pinnacle hip replacement device has not been recalled.

Depuy recalled the metal on metal Depuy ASR hip replacement device last year but Depuy has not yet recalled the metal on metal Pinnacle device. The evidence suggesting that the Pinnacle M on M device should be recalled continues to mount. The metal-on-metal hip replacement system remains on the market and consumers continue to be exposed to the risk of serious and debilitating problems.

In August 2010, DePuy Orthopedics, Inc. recalled their ASR hip system, which is a metal-on-metal hip implant. The patient recipients of the DePuy ASR have experienced hip problems associated with a much higher-than-expected failure rate, pain and elevated metal levels. The hip system was recalled months after DePuy ASR lawsuits were first filed alleging that consumers experienced complications due to the defective design. The Depuy ASR cases have been consolidated in an MDL and are being heard in New Jersey by Judge Katz. There are also more than 500 hundred Depuy ASR lawsuits that have been filed in California and those cases have been consolidated and are being handled by Judge Kramer in San Francisco.

The DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuits have been consolidated in an MDL in the Northern federal district of Texas under Judge "Ed" Kinkeade.

DePuy Orthopedics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, faces a number of similar lawsuits over their DePuy ASR hip, which is another metal-on-metal design. A DePuy ASR hip recall was issued in August 2010, after post-marketing data confirmed that the hip design was associated with a failure rate of 12% to 13% within 5 years. However, more recent estimates suggest that nearly half of recalled DePuy ASR hip replacements may lead to problems within six years, requiring people to undergo risky revision surgery. According to allegations raised in many of the suits, design defects cause an increased risk of problems from microscopic metal particles that are shed from the DePuy Pinnacle hip implant when parts of the metal-on-metal hip system rub against each other. This may increase the risk of metallosis, biologic toxicity and lead to a high failure rate. Metallosis is just one of the many DePuy hip complications.

DePuy Orthopedics has received numerous complaints regarding the metal-on-metal Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System, though it has not issued a Pinnacle hip recall as of yet. The company maintains that there is no defect in the design of the Pinnacle hip replacement, though some DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits allege that the company is concealing the defect and has misrepresented that the hip replacement is a safe and effective medical device. While a DePuy Pinnacle recall has not yet been issued, the FDA has received hundreds of complaints from patients experiencing problems with the metal-on-metal DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System. Patients who have been implanted with the hip replacement system have reported a number of DePuy Pinnacle problems, including unexplained hip pain and hip implant failure, requiring DePuy hip revision surgery.

Depuy Hip Replacement Implants —