Depuy Hip Replacement Lawsuits

In 2024, there are no remaining active lawsuits in DePuy Pinnacle hip implant multidistrict litigation. While no cases are pending in MDL 2244, it’s still technically open. At its peak, there were 10,581 in this litigation.

DePuy has offered to settle 95% of hip lawsuits. However, as of November 2024, there were 236 lawsuits still pending in MDL 2197 in Ohio before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey J. Helmick over the ASR hip replacement implant.

In April 2023, a federal judge sanctioned Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of DePuy Orthopaedics, for delaying an ongoing Pinnacle hip replacement lawsuit. The judge ordered the company to pay the plaintiff’s legal fees.

In October 2022, Johnson & Johnson requested that the judge move a plaintiff’s case to federal court. The judge ruled that the case against Johnson & Johnson and the seller of the Pinnacle implant should remain with the Washington state court. The judge declared that the company’s request was an attempt to delay proceedings.

Plaintiffs in lawsuits involving DePuy hip replacements have claimed that the devices failed or caused dangerous complications, including tissue death and the release of metal ions into the bloodstream. Many patients have had the implants removed and undergone revision surgery. Settlements and verdicts involving the hip implants total roughly $6.2 billion.

Though the metal-on-metal technology used in DePuy’s Articular Surface Replacement and Pinnacle hip implants offered high hopes of long-lasting treatment when it first hit the market, it was plagued with problems and many implants failed within just a few years.

Attorney Holly Ennis explains that when the hip is in use with an ASR or Pinnacle implant, a metal ball grinds against a metal socket, causing small particles to chip off the device. When these embed in the surrounding tissue, the tissue eventually dies, releasing the particles into the bloodstream.

People who have filed DePuy hip implant lawsuits claim the company did nothing despite knowing for years that at least some of its devices had problems. Internal company documents the plaintiffs presented at the first ASR hip trial appear to back up these claims.

The documents suggest that DePuy had predicted two in five patients receiving a DePuy ASR hip would need revision surgery within five years. The documents also seemed to reveal executives from DePuy’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, knew the ASR hip had a faulty design but kept it on the market.

DePuy’s ASR XL Acetabular System, ASR Hip Resurfacing System and Pinnacle Hip Solutions have been named in more than 20,000 lawsuits.

In 2010, DePuy recalled its ASR systems after leading medical organizations presented data showing high failure rates. Though DePuy did not recall its Pinnacle system, multiple studies have shown that metal-on-metal components had significant failure rates and complications. The company ceased the sale of those device components in 2013.

Doctors used the ASR systems in more than 93,000 surgeries, leading to successful hip replacement lawsuits in which DePuy’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, agreed to pay $4 billion in damages. The company agreed to another $420 million in damages in March 2015.

In 2019, a court ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay damages of $1 billion to plaintiffs in cases involving the Pinnacle system. Some individual and multidistrict cases against Johnson & Johnson are still ongoing.

When choosing a DePuy hip replacement lawyer, you will want to find one who is an expert in tort law, which involves claims alleging negligence, intentional harm or strict liability.

The best tort lawyers communicate effectively, have years of specialized experience and a proven track record of success. Research multiple firms before making your choice, including firms that have already worked on DePuy hip replacement litigation.

National tort firm Weitz & Luxenberg has handled successful lawsuits for plaintiffs with defective hip replacements throughout the U.S. It has secured verdicts for those who received faulty hip implants, including from DePuy and Stryker, among other manufacturers. Weitz & Luxenberg partner Ellen Relkin served as both co-lead and lead counsel for DePuy multidistrict litigation and Stryker multicounty litigation.