New Hampshire Hip Implant Injury Lawyer

Serving clients throughout New Hampshire, Maine & Massachusetts

Shaheen & Gordon for Business and Not-for-Profit Organizations. Exceptional Legal Representation.

In August of 2010, DePuy Orthopedics Inc. ( a Johnson & Johnson company) issued a voluntary recall of its ASR XL Acetabular and its ASR Hip Resurfacing Systems due to high hip replacement failure rates. This is a metal on metal system that Depuy originally touted as one that would last longer than others and provide more mobility. However, due to the defective nature of this implant, the Depuy recalled hip replacement fails at a significantly higher rate than other implants.

Doctors estimate that 5% of patients that undergo hip replacement surgery will require “revision surgery” to correct problems with their device within five years. By contrast, 12-13% of patients who received one of the recalled DePuy implants required repair surgery in five years or less. Recent studies from the UK suggest that the failure rate for this system may actually be as high as 49%.

The defective design and metal on metal nature of this implant has caused many people to develop dangerously increased cobalt and chromium levels as the metal components grind together and release metal fragments into the blood and surrounding tissue. Patients who received the devices have suffered complications including fractures around the site of the implants, loosening or dislocation of the devices and metal debris from the device that may spread into the blood stream and/or damage surrounding tissue.

Although Depuy finally recalled the ASR system in August 2010, there was significant information that the product was defective long before the recall. The FDA received over 400 reports in the three years prior to the recall. Also, this same system was taken off the market in Australia in December 2009 based on results of a 2009 Australian study. Shortly thereafter Depuy announced that it would be phasing out the system due to slow sales but did not mention the Australian study.

In March 2010, DePuy sent letters to doctors warning them about potential problems with the ASR hip replacement but waited until August 2010 to finally announce the worldwide hip replacement recall.
As indicated above, Depuy has already contacted many doctors. In addition, DePuy has pledged to cover the out of pocket costs of “reasonable and customary costs of monitoring and treatment.” However, Depuy has not offered to pay for many of the other elements that are available under the law such as pain & suffering, lost wages, loss of enjoyment of life and permanent injury.
Hundreds of people have filed product liability and negligence lawsuits against DePuy, Johnson & Johnson and its affiliates for injuries suffered due to this defective implant. In December 2010, many of these lawsuits were consolidated into a Federal Court Multidistrict Litigation in the Northern District of Ohio. This means that discovery and pre-trial matters will be handled on a consolidated basis for those lawsuits that are part of the MDL rather than in individual state or federal courts.

Shaheen & Gordon is currently handling cases in the MDL. If you think you may have one of these defective implants, you should contact your surgeon and/or obtain your medical records to confirm. If you have questions regarding a potential claim, please call us at 1-800-451-1002 or 603-749-5000