DePuy Faces Canadian ASR Hip Replacement Class Action Lawsuit

New York, NYA court in Ontario, Canada has certified a DePuy ASR class action lawsuit brought on behalf of Canadian citizens who were allegedly affected by the DePuy ASR recall. According to court documents filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on August 27, 2013, the DePuy ASR class action lawsuit seeks damages, including medical monitoring and emotional distress, for all persons implanted with the recalled hip system. Attorneys for plaintiffs estimate that as many as 4,000 Canadians could be included in the class. (Crisante, et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., et al., No. CV-10-415755-00CP).

DePuy Orthopaedics issued a global recall of its ASR XL Acetabular metal-on-metal hip replacement on August 24, 2010 following approximately 300 complaints from people undergoing hip replacement.

The ASR hip replacement is a metal-on-metal device believed to have a design flaw that has resulted in many patients needing follow-up hip revision surgery to replace the device soon after implant. The ASR is considered by a number of orthopedic experts to be a defective product and DePuy hip replacement lawsuits are currently pending.

Currently, in the US, more than 11,500 DePuy ASR lawsuits have been filed, all of which alleged metallosis, early device failure, or other serious complications due to the ASR’s metal-on-metal design. Most of these complaints are pending in a multidistrict litigation now underway in US District Court, Northern District of Ohio. The first trial in the federal litigation is scheduled to begin on September 24, 2013. (In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation MDL 2197).

While the US federal litigation has yet to hold its first trial, two DePuy ASR lawsuits have already been heard by juries at the state level. In March, an $8 million award was granted to a plaintiff after a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that the hip implant was defectively designed. (Kransky v. DePuy, BC456086, California Superior Court, Los Angeles County).