The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has scheduled a May 16, 2011, hearing in Louisville, Kentucky, to determine whether to consolidate for purposes of discovery all federal DePuy Pinnacle cases. The MDL matter is In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2244. A matter consolidated into a multi-district litigation ("MDL") is thereafter presided over by one federal judge throughout the discovery process. Any such case which is filed in or removed to any federal court is sent to the MDL, only to be released back to its original federal court when deemed ready for trial. Cases remaining in state courts are not governed by the MDL judge.
The MDL hearing on Pinnacle hip implants follows the recent national consolidation into an MDL of all federal lawsuits over the DePuy ASR™ Hip System and the ASR™ XL Acetabular System, which were recalled in August 2010. The DePuy Pinnacle® product, like the ASR devices, utilizes a metal-on-metal design, which experts have identified as an unreasonably dangerous defect that can cause metal shavings to dislodge inside a patient’s body, resulting in tissue damage, pseudo tumors, implant dislocation, bone loss, dangerously high blood metal levels, and other problems which ultimately require that the hip implant be explanted.
DePuy, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, has sold more than 150,000 DePuy Pinnacle® Hip Implant devices, outselling the recalled DePuy ASR hip implant device. The company faces thousands of legal claims filed by hip implant patients across the U.S. as its hip implants have been associated with a high failure rate.
The nationwide hearing on Pinnacle hip implants follows the recent national coordination of lawsuits over the DePuy ASR™ Hip System and the ASR™ XL Acetabular System, which were recalled in August 2010. The DePuy Pinnacle® product, like the ASR devices, utilizes a metal-on-metal design, which experts have identified as a distinct flaw that can cause metal shavings to dislodge inside a patient’s body, resulting in infections and other problems.
To date, more than 1,300 “adverse event reports” have been filed with the FDA regarding the Pinnacle hip implant. Additionally, a recent report by the British Hip Society reports that many metal-on-metal hip implants fail early, some with a failure rate of almost 50% at six years.
