$8.3 Million for Defective DePuy Hip Implant

Los Angeles, CAThe first in a series of DePuy hip replacement lawsuits concluded this week with a jury finding for the plaintiff. While defendants DePuy Orthopaedics (DePuy) and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) escaped a possible $179 million bill for punitive damages, plaintiff Loren Kransky was nonetheless awarded $8.3 million.

According to the Los Angeles Times (3/8/13), J&J plans to appeal. The jury finding for the plaintiff, however, represents the opening salvo that will resonate throughout a host of similar cases alleging metal-on-metal ASR artificial hips manufactured by DePuy, the orthopedic arm of J&J, were defective through a deficient and flawed design. And while the allegation supporting punitive damages in this particular case was not successful, subsequent lawsuits will press for punitive damages based on allegations the defendant knew more about its problematic hip implants, than it was admitting.

Two of the 12 jurors, interviewed following the delivery of the verdict and once the jury was dismissed, indicated they had been pressing for punitive damages. “The company was not forthcoming about problems with the ASR hip and they dragged their feet,” juror David Vega, an engineer from Pico Rivera, said in comments to the LA Times. “I wanted punitive damages.”

Those sentiments in Kransky’s DePuy hip lawsuit were echoed by jury foreman Chris Alvarez, who said in a statement following delivery of the verdict that DePuy could have withdrawn the allegedly problematic DePuy ASR sooner than it did. “I felt DePuy did too little, too late,” he said.

Since problems with the DePuy ASR came to light (followed by a recall of the product), many a DePuy hip implant lawsuit have followed. DePuy, and its parent Johnson & Johnson, face upwards of 10,000 lawsuits.

The DePuy ASR is but one example of a handful of so-called new age hip implants fashioned from all-metal components and promising better wear and a longer life.

However, reality proved a far different story for many patients, with high failure rates and the need for revision surgery. The shedding of minute metallic particles not only has been thought to negatively impact surrounding tissue, but to also migrate into the bloodstream, causing a potentially dangerous condition known as metallosis.

That was one of the problems allegedly encountered by plaintiff Kransky, who testified he suffered from metal poisoning along with a host of other problems after he received the DePuy ASR XL hip two years after the all-metal device was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2005. Kransky received the device in 2007.

Following a five-week trial that saw the jury deliberate for six days, the prosecution lost in its bid to hit the defendants with punitive damages due to a position held by the majority of jurors that Kransky had other health issues that may have contributed to his troubles. However, Kransky’s DePuy lawyer was undeterred by the loss of the punitive claim, saying that future cases are expected to involve younger and healthier patients having suffered crippling effects from the troublesome implants.

At the end of the day in the DePuy hip replacement lawsuit, the jury determined the DePuy ASR to be defective and found the defendant to be negligent. As for DePuy, a spokesperson noted the company regretted that the ASR hip system did not perform as expected for some patients. However, said DePuy representative Lorie Gawreluk in comments to the LA Times after the trial, “We believe the ASR XL was properly designed, and that DePuy’s actions concerning the product were appropriate and responsible.” The case was In re: Loren Kransky and Sheryl Kransky v. DePuy, Inc., et al. (BC456086, Los Angeles Superior Court).