On the heels of Johnson & Johnson’s loss in a California Superior Court case regarding their DePuy ASR Hip implant, the second DePuy ASR Hip lawsuit started on March 11 in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago, Illinois.
The case is Strum v. DePuy, and involves the plaintiff, Carol Strum, a 54 year old nurse and Illinois resident. After receiving a DePuy ASR Hip implant, Strum claims that her implant proved defective after only three years.
Strum’s case is the second DePuy ASR Hip Replacement lawsuit to go to trial of approximately 10,750 cases, according to a Bloomberg report. The first lawsuit to go to trial, Kransky v. DePuy, was lost by Johnson & Johnson, and resulted in the jury ruling that Johnson & Johnson and DePuy would have to pay $8.3 million in compensatory damages to the plaintiff, Loren Kransky.
Furthermore, the jury decided that Johnson & Johnson and DePuy would not have to pay punitive damages to the plaintiff. The case was heard in a California Superior Court in Los Angeles.
In opening statements delivered on March 11, Johnson & Johnson’s lawyer argued that the DePuy ASR Hip implant is not a defectively designed medical device, and that the recall of the hip device in 2010 was unrelated to any defect.
Conversely, in his opening statements to the jury, Strum’s lawyer provided details about the defective nature of the metal-on-metal design of the DePuy ASR Hip. Strum’s lawyer emphasized how the metal ball and metal cup knocked against one another during movement causing the release of metal ions into surrounding tissue, muscles, bone, and the bloodstream.
In addition to claiming that Strum suffers from metal poisoning, Strum’s lawyer stated that DePuy neglected to sufficiently inform Strum, Strum’s healthcare provider, and her surgeon about the health risks associated with the DePuy ASR Hip implant.
The Johnson & Johnson lawyer stated that the plaintiff’s body rejected the DePuy ASR Hip implant. The cause of Strum’s health complications, according to the defendants, is related to Strum’s biological response to the hip implant, and has nothing to do with her surgeon nor the hip implant itself. As this case moves forward, it will be interesting to see how Johnson & Johnson and DePuy supports this claim.
In Kransky v. DePuy, the plaintiff was seeking punitive damages in the amount of $179 million. In her case, Strum is also seeking punitive damages along with compensatory damages.
Lawyers at Carey Danis & Lowe have been closely watching the Chicago DePuy ASR Hip trial to see if this time around the jury will award punitive damages to the plaintiff to punish Johnson & Johnson and DePuy for their negligence.
To file a DePuy ASR Hip lawsuit and for a free legal evaluation about your DePuy ASR Hip case, contact a defective medical device lawyer at Carey Danis & Lowe by calling 800.721.2519 or by submitting a legal claim form.
