Because of The DePuy Hip Recall, 4000 Lawsuits Await The Company
The severity of the current issue concerning DePuy Orthopaedics might have already sunk in for them. After all, they are not an unpopular company, for Johnson & Johnson owns them. They have been even more well-known for inventing the ASR implants, namely the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, that have been confirmed as defective by many research studies. This was after the Food and Drug Administration took control, after they have been bombarded with complaints from many angry patients. This left DePuy with no choice but to issue a recall on their hip implants, but this will certainly not stop the patients to press charges against them. A lawyer, as a matter of fact, estimates that DePuy might face at least 4, 000 hip recall lawsuits.
As what most reports have claimed, the ASR implants were made with metal-on-metal elements, in contrast to other hip implants invented by other manufacturers that have ceramic or metal-on-plastic components. Perhaps this unique characteristic DePuy made, on top of being a Johnson & Johnson division, was what interested the public—something different, from a reputable company. However, this kind of metal-on-metal patent was exactly the reason why the hip replacement surgery failed for most of the recipients. The friction within the faulty hip devices apparently shed off quite a lot of metal debris, and these microscopic particles managed to circulate into the bloodstream, causing a state called metallosis. This is the condition wherein metal substances like cobalt and chromium, are present in the blood in tremendously toxic values that are risky enough to cause complications, such as closed fractures, heart problems and permanent disability.
4,000 lawsuits might seems like a rather big number, enough to frighten DePuy; but think about the 93, 000 or more American recipients, and how the implants can affect one in every eight of them. More victims are probably out there, wondering if the act of filing a hip recall lawsuit is the right thing to do. Hip recall lawyers will most certainly say that suing the company might be the wisest act you can make, because your rights are defended, and you are entitled to claim the compensation.



