Will Hip Implant Lawsuit Awards in the US Affect Patients in Canada?

Halifax, NSAs plaintiffs in a defective hip implant lawsuit in the United States celebrate a $500 million award, patients in Canada may be left wondering if such awards will affect potential lawsuits in their country.

The $500 million award was handed down by a Texas federal jury to five plaintiffs, who alleged they were harmed by use of the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants. Reuters (3/17/16) reports jurors in the trial agreed with plaintiffs that the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip devices were defectively designed, and further agreed that the makers failed to warn health care professionals and patients about the risk of failure in the implants. Pinnacle is made by Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy unit, although the metal-on-metal version of the Pinnacle has not been available since 2013.

Some metal-on-metal hip devices have come under fire for alleged flaws in their design, which reportedly led to the devices failing more frequently than other hip replacement devices. Plaintiffs also allege they were put at risk of developing metallosis from metallic debris coming loose from the devices. Among injuries allegedly linked to the hip implants are tissue death and damage to the bone.

The company is expected to appeal the award. As of March 15, 2016, there were 8,217 lawsuits consolidated for pretrial proceedings in MDL 2244.

In addition to lawsuits in the United States, lawsuits have also been filed in Canada against a variety of metal-on-metal hip implant makers. Plaintiffs in those lawsuits also allege they suffered injury as a result of hip implants failing earlier than they were expected to. Some traditional hip implants are designed to last 25 years, according to CBC (3/12/14), but plaintiffs claim their hip implants have failed in as little as two years.

One such lawsuit was filed by Kenneth Taylor against Wright Medical. Taylor alleged his hip device failed after only two years. After having revision surgery, he filed a lawsuit against Wright Medical. That lawsuit was certified a class action in 2014. In 2015, Wright Medical appealed the class certification but its appeal was dismissed by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

Hip implant failure typically requires revision surgery to remove the defective device and replace it with a new hip implant. Revision surgery may have a greater risk of complications than the initial hip replacement surgery and can involve a longer recovery time.

Wright has faced lawsuits in the United States concerning its Conserve Hip Implant System. In 2015, plaintiff Robyn Christiansen was awarded $11 million in her bellwether lawsuit against the company. That amount was later reduced to $2.1 million, including $1.1 million for punitive damages and $1 million for compensatory damages.