First DePuy ASR Hip Replacement Lawsuit Goes to Trial in Los Angeles Superior Court

First DePuy ASR Hip Replacement Lawsuit Goes to Trial in Los Angeles Superior CourtThe first in 10,000 DePuy ASR Hip Replacement lawsuits went to trial in a California Superior Court in Los Angeles County on January 25. The case is Kransky v. DePuy. The plaintiff, Loren Kransky, is a North Dakota resident who received a DePuy ASR Hip Replacement, and filed the lawsuit claiming a defective design and manufacturer negligence.

According to an article recently published by the New York Times, Johnson & Johnson was aware of a serious design flaw in the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement. However, internal Johnson & Johnson documents, which were unsealed during trial proceedings on January 25, reveal that company executives intentionally withheld information about the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement design flaw from healthcare providers and the public.

In a Bloomberg News report of the Los Angeles Superior Court DePuy ASR trial, testimony given by a biomedical engineer and consultant, George Samaras, indicated that DePuy researchers recorded extremely high levels of chromium and cobalt metal ions in the body, in fact a concentration 16 times higher in comparison to another of DePuy’s medical devices.

DePuy is a unit of Johnson & Johnson that developed and manufactured the ASR, or Articular Surface Replacement, hip implant. In addition, Samaras shared with the jury that DePuy and Johnson & Johnson claimed that the ASR Hip Replacement passed internal medical device standards, when in fact, it had failed them.

Johnson & Johnson recalled the DePuy ASR Hip implant in 2010. The reason given for recalling the hip implant had nothing to do with defective design, but rather, long-term market viability.

In these same internal document unsealed during the Los Angeles DePuy ASR trial, researchers at DePuy noted an abnormally high failure rate for the ASR Hip Replacement, that of 40 percent within only five years after receiving the DePuy hip implant. With this information, Johnson & Johnson still marketed the defective and flawed medical device to healthcare providers and the public.

Furthermore, DePuy and Johnson & Johnson were not only receiving warning signs from internal reports. According to the New York Times report, doctors were reporting complications and device failures regarding the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement to Johnson & Johnson just as the medical device manufacturer was beginning to market the device in the U.S. In 2005.

Thus, with information coming from within and from healthcare professionals, Johnson & Johnson proceeded with their efforts to sell the defective DePuy ASR Hip Replacement.

Patients who have received an implant of the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement note high levels of metal ions in the blood, resulting in metallosis, or metal poisoning. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released safety communications about tissue and bone damage as well as neurological impairment resulting from metal debris created by metal-on-metal hip implants, such as the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement.

Lawyers at Carey Danis & Lowe are closely examining DePuy ASR Hip Replacement lawsuits across the country. If you or someone you love has received an implant of the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement, contact a lawyer at Carey Danis & Lowe for a free legal evaluation about your case.

You may be eligible to receive compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Learn more about filing a DePuy ASR Hip Replacement lawsuit by calling a lawyer at Carey Danis & Lowe at 800.721.2519.