A federal jury in Dallas has awarded $502 million to five patients who claim Johnson & Johnson hid flaws in its Pinnacle hip implant device that caused them to suffer pain and additional surgeries to repair the damage.
The jury awarded $142 million in actual damages and $360 million in punitive damages after finding that J&J knew about the defects in the Pinnacle hip implant devices and failed to warn doctors and patients of the risks.
The Pinnacle hip implant is manufactured by J&J’s DePuy Orthopaedics subsidiary and features metal-on-metal construction that has been shown to result in an increased failure rate, infection, dislocation and immobility. It has been estimated that more than 10% of the devices fail within two to three years after implantation.
The Pinnacle hip implant has also been tied to an increased risk of metallosis, which is an adverse reaction to the metal-on-metal action of the device that can cause tissue damage and tumors. The implant — which replicates the action of the replaced joint — sheds microscopic metal pseudo particles into the body, triggering metallosis.
DePuy introduced its Pinnacle Hip Acetabular Cup System in 2000. The FDA approval was fast-tracked via its expedited 510(k) process because the device was similar to previously introduced DePuy ASR hip implant devices. DePuy later recalled the ASR devices in August 2010 and the company paid $2.5 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits associated with the ASR hip implants.
More than 8,000 Pinnacle hip implant lawsuits have been filed in federal court, which have been consolidated in the Northern Texas MDL. The most recent trial was the second bellwether trial in the MDL. J&J won the first trial after convincing the jury that the surgeon was at fault for improperly implanting the device.
Showard Law Firm is Tucson’s local law firm for defective drug and medical device claims. If you believe you or a loved one have been harmed by a medication or medical device, contact us for a free consultation.
