The third bellwether Pinnacle hip replacement trial is underway in the United States federal court in the Northern District of Texas. Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopedics division, the makers of the defective Pinnacle hip implant system.
With more than 8,500 hip lawsuits concerning the Pinnacle brand, these bellwether trials are representative of the other claims against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary DePuy Orthopedics. The failed DePuy hip lawsuits were filed after the Pinnacle hips became loose, dislocated, and led to metallosis, a condition where metal ions cause tissue and bone death as well as neurological and autoimmune symptoms. A number of plaintiffs had revision surgery to remove faulty implants.
The Pinnacle hips were first introduced to the market in 2000 and removed from the market in mid-2013 after numerous complaints from doctors and patients.
At issue in the trial is the faulty design of the hip, improper testing of the hip prior to market introduction, and a failure to warn healthcare professionals about the hip’s defects.
The last bellwether trial involving the Pinnacle hip resulted in a $497 million verdict for consumers who suffered as a result of the bad hip product. After that verdict in May, lawyers for the big medical device company argued that this bellwether trial should be postponed. The trial judge disagreed and ordered the proceedings to continue.
“Only after losing the second bellwether trial did defendants object to the process,” the judge said in his response. “There are more than 8,000 pending cases in this MDL; the court cannot grant a stay every time plaintiffs win a trial.”
Judge Kinkeade did reduce the verdict to $100 million, $20 million for each of the five plaintiffs in that trial. He was required to do this by a Texas “tort reform” law that protects corporations for large verdicts won by consumers.
Hip replacement patients who’ve suffered as a result of these bad hips have a right to a trial by jury under the 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Medical device companies such as Johnson & Johnson and DePuy should not be allowed to escape their responsibility for these tragedies.
Our law firm is continuing to file lawsuits involving the Pinnacle metal on metal hip. These Pinnacle hips are continuing to fail. I spoke to an orthopedic surgeon yesterday who had just performed a revision surgery on one of my clients and the surgeon reported finding severe tissue damage caused by metallosis from the DePuy Pinnacle hip that was removed during the surgery. Contact Saunders & Walker today for a free case evaluation.