DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, has taken a hit once again after a judge denied the company’s request to an appeal of a previous verdict in the Kransky v. Depuy case, in which the company was ordered to pay $8.3 million to the plaintiff. The initial lawsuit was brought against the medical device giant for injuries the plaintiff suffered from the company’s recalled ASR XL Acetabular metal-on-metal hip implant.
Law360 reported that presiding Judge Czuleger cited that the plaintiff had provided sufficient evidence in the original lawsuit to prove that DePuy’s product was defective. The judge’s denial comes as no surprise as thousands of additional lawsuits have been filed against DePuy for their defective and poorly designed hip implants, including their recalled ASR Hip Resurfacing System and ASR XL total hip replacement. DePuy announced this month that it was halting production of all metal-on-metal hip implant devices, including it’s Pinnacle devices.
“DePuy’s recent decision to discontinue sale of metal-on-metal implants is a strong sign that the company knew its product was defective and decided to sell it anyway – ignoring the risks to patient safety that they carried,” says Daniel Nigh, an attorney at Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor, P.A.
The metal-on-metal hip implants were passed through the 510(k) approval system, prompting many to have major safety concerns because the process doesn’t require adequate clinical testing and fast-tracks products onto the market. Metal-on-metal hip implants such as Stryker’s Rejuvenate and AGB II hip implant and Smith and Nephew’s R3 Acetabular have since been recalled after the implants failed, leaving patients with significant injuries. Smith and Nephew’s Birmingham Hip Resurfacing devices have seen major complications as well.
DePuy may challenge the appellate’ court’s decision and appeal to the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, DePuy’s rejection should serve as an example for the other medical device companies under scrutiny that responsibility must be taken for manufacturing and selling faulty and dangerous products.
Krysta Loera is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire.