Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement Failures

Metal-on-metal hip implant replacements have recently been associated with serious side effects, including a significantly higher rate of failure compared to other hip implants. In addition, the metal-on-metal design may also leak toxic chemicals into the body, increasing a person’s risk of metal poisoning and hip implant failure. An estimated 500,000 Americans have metal-on-metal hip implants, but many have no idea that they could be at risk of a severe side effect.

What Can You Do & How We Can Help you

Zar Law, PLLC is currently accepting metal on metal-on-metal hip implant lawsuits. If you or someone you know has had a metal-on-metal hip replacement, even if there are not side effects yet, please contact our Product Liability Litigation Team immediately for a free case evaluation.

Metal-On-Metal Hip Replacement News/Judgements

February 12, 2015 — A woman who needed surgery to replace two defective DePuy ASR hip implants has been awarded $2.5 million by a jury in Oklahoma.

December 4, 2014 — A federal jury in Illinois has cleared Zimmer of liability in the first “bellwether” trial out of more than 350 lawsuits inovlving the Durom Cup, a metal-on-metal hip replacement that was pulled off the market in 2008.

November 3, 2014 — Johnson & Johnson has proposed settling more than 1,000 lawsuits involving the DePuy ASR hip replacement for $250 million.

October 24, 2014 — A jury in Dallas, Texas has unanimously cleared DePuy of wrongdoing in the first “bellwether” case to go to trial involving the Pinnacle, a metal-on-metal hip implant.

September 17, 2014 — Reuters reports that lawyers for a woman who was injured by the Pinnacle hip implant grilled executives from Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopedics in the first “bellwether” trial out of more than 6,400 lawsuits.

September 11, 2014 — Bloomberg reports that trial attorneys for a woman who was injured by the DePuy Pinnacle hip implant allege that the device-maker knew it was defective in 2001, but failed to withdraw it from the market until August 2013.

February 10, 2014 — Biomet agrees to pay $56 million to settle over 1,000 Magnum M2A hip implant lawsuits, for a base payment of $200,000 per plaintiff.

November 22, 2013 — U.K. hospitals ban metal-on-metal hip replacements. Officials have also reduced the “acceptable” rate of revision surgery to 5% in 10 years.

November 20, 2013 — J&J has proposed paying $2.5 billion plus medical costs to 8,000 people who were injured by the ASR hip implant. There are 4,000 additional pending lawsuits. 94% of eligible claimants must agree to the settlement.

November 13, 2013 — J&J has agreed to pay $4.4 billion to settle 7,500 DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuits, at an average payout of $300,000 per surgery for each plaintiff.

August 29, 2013 — J&J considering settling 11,500 lawsuits for about $300,000 each, or more than $3 billion. If plaintiffs approve the settlement, it would be the largest-ever payout in defective hip implant litigation.

July 18, 2013 — At least 494 lawsuits involving the Biomet M2A hip implant are now pending in the federal MDL.

May 17, 2013 — DePuy withdraws the Ultamet and Complete liners for metal-on-metal hip implants. The company will be phasing out metal hip implant products and renew focus on plastic and ceramic hip implants.

March 11, 2013 — A jury in Los Angeles, California state court has awarded more than $8.3 million to Loren Kransky, the first plaintiff to see his ASR hip implant lawsuit go to trial. The award includes $8 million for pain and suffering and $338,000 for expenses. DePuy faces approximately 10,750 more ASR hip implant lawsuits.

February 19, 2013 — Study finds that women are 29% more likely than men to need revision surgery for hip implant failure within 3 years.

January 30, 2013 — Expert witnesses testified that the ASR failed DePuy’s own safety tests because it released 16-times more chromium and cobalt than the Pinnacle hip implant. Instead of re-designing the ASR, DePuy re-designed the test.

January 25, 2013 — A Rochester NY woman’s ASR lawsuit chosen for federal bellwether trial.

January 24, 2013 — DePuy knew about hip implant problems in 2008, but waited 2 years to issue recall of the ASR.

January 23, 2013 — A DePuy company analysis in 2011 linked the ASR to a 37% five-year failure rate, which is significantly higher than the industry’s “acceptable” 5% five-year failure rate.

January 21, 2013 — DePuy has offered to settle each ASR hip implant lawsuit for $200,000. The first of more than 10,000 lawsuits are scheduled to go to trial next week.

January 17, 2013 — The FDA has published a Safety Communication to warn that metal-on-metal hip implants can shed toxic metal particles that can cause soft tissue damage. The agency has also updated recommendations for orthopedic surgeons.

December 12, 2012 — The journal Orthopedics describes the case of a 54 year-old woman implanted with a Pinnacle hip implant. The implant shed metal debris, which cause fluid-filled soft-tissue growths called bursal cysts to form in her hip. The cysts cut off circulation to her lower leg and caused swelling. She required revision surgery, and was re-implanted with a ceramic-on-ceramic hip implant.

December 6, 2012 — More than 3,200 DePuy Pinnacle hip implant lawsuits have been filed in a federal Multi-District Litigation (MDL) located in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

December 5, 2012 — A South Carolina man has filed a lawsuit alleging that the Biomet M2A Magnum hip implant is defective.

November 9, 2012 — Thousands of metal hip implant lawsuits filed in federal MDLs.

October 26, 2012 — A Birmingham hip resurfacing implant lawsuit has been filed in Illinois. Researchers are also warning that women should not undergo hip resurfacing procedures due to the “unacceptably high” risk of failure and revision surgery.

October 3, 2012 — A federal judicial panel has centralized Biomet M2A Magnum hip implant lawsuits into a Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)  in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, before Judge Robert L. Miller. Nearly 70 pending lawsuits will be transferred to the court.

September 28, 2012 — Researchers have found that metal-on-metal hip implants do not increase the risk of cancer after 7 years.

September 27, 2012 — Smith & Nephew is warning that failure rates for the Birmingham hip implant exceed benchmark levels established in the United Kingdom.

September 24, 2012 — Australian health authorities recommend regular blood tests for everyone with a metal-on-metal hip implant.

August 2012 — Stryker has recalled two modular-neck hip implants, the Rejuvenate and ABG II. The products have a metal-on-metal component in the neck/stem junction, which is prone to corrosion, fretting, and shedding toxic particles of metal into a patient’s body.

June 4, 2012 — A new study has found that people who have metal-on-metal hip implants may be 10 times more likely to develop a pseudotumor. A pseudotumor is a non-cancerous growth of tissue in the hip joint surrounding the hip implant. Over time, it can continue to grow until it causes severe pain, swelling, inflammation, and dislocation of the hip joint.