Pennsylvania Plaintiff Accuses DePuy Pinnacle System Of Being Unsafe
DePuy Orthopaedics disappointed the majority of its clients last August when it announced that it would implement a recall of its ASR hip replacement systems due to the device failing in 12-13% of recipients.DePuy has been manufacturing and distributing medical devices worldwide for over a hundred years. Throughout the next 115 years, the company built its reputation as an innovator in the medical device industry, solidified through the company’s acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in 1998. However, a recent lawsuit is questioning the safety of the DePuy Pinnacle system as well as the reputation of the company.
One claim filed in the United States District Court for the State of New Jersey by Pennsylvania resident, Anna Maria Sillman, alleges that the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system is “unsafe and has not been tested.” She claims that DePuy inappropriately submitted the Pinnacle system to the 510(k) approval process of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which approves products for public distribution if they are found to be substantially equivalent with products already approved on the market. Because the products that were already approved were not subjected to premarket clinical testing, the claim alleges that the submission was, therefore, irresponsible.With product liability lawsuits, once the court finds the manufacturer of the product liable for harm, the company is required to compensate the victim for damages incurred, such as medical bills, lost wages, and any pain inflicted on the victim for any period of time.
The lawsuit also claims that the FDA has received over 1,300 complaints regarding the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system. Although most of these complaints are about premature loosening of the device, a recent New York Times report has found that metal-on-metal devices, like Pinnacle, increase the risk of metallosis in recipients due to constant friction of the metal components, which release metal particles into the soft tissue surrounding the device or into the bloodstream.
Patients that have received the DePuy Pinnacle system experiencing pain or symptoms of metallosis have the option of pursuing a case against DePuy. In the past, DePuy has allocated as much as $1 billion for those suffering from their defective devices. If you believe you are entitled to proper compensation because your quality of life has been affected, go to the DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit website now to have your case evaluated by an experienced attorney free of charge.