Earlier this month, the six-week trial for a plaintiff concluded with the jury awarding $8 million to him for his pain and suffering from DePuy ASR injuries and $338,136 in economic damages. The jury did not award any punitive damages, even though some jurors wanted to because DePuy took too long to correct the problems found with the device (Kransky v. DePuy, BC456086, California Superior Court, Los Angeles County).
This suit is the first of thousands of similar cases to reach trial in the United States involving an all metal ball-and-socket hip joint that was pulled from the market two years ago. Others, just like this plaintiff, have complained that the implants left them with crippling injuries or in need or revision surgeries. This product unfortunately was sold to more than 90,000 people worldwide. The manufacture, Johnson & Johnson stopped making the product in 2009 and recalled it the next year.
Soon after the conclusion of the Kransky v DePuy case, another case is underway in Illinois state court. (Strum v. DePuy, 2011-L-9352, Circuit Court of Cook County). Although there is no way of knowing what the next settlement or jury award will be, lawyers believes that it will likely be close to the same amount, if not more, because they are starting to know more about DePuy’s deception to the public and there would likely be high punitive awards.
Attorneys all over the country are working on bringing about more DePuy cases and combining them into a Multi-District Litigation (MDL). Through these DePuy trials, we have learned that the company put together the design by engineers with no input from orthopedic surgeons. No specialists were hired to advise them on the issue of metal poisoning. The only tests done on these products were in laboratories, with no human subjects. The trial also shows that DePuy knew why the implant was failing as early as 2006 but they did not changed the design and even tried to hide the problem. Attorneys are closely watching the Chicago trial because it presents a new chance for the plaintiff to get punitive damages for malicious and negligent business practices.
Attorney Paul d’Oliveira stated that “I am glad to see this man recover compensation for his injuries from this dangerous DePuy Hip Implant. It is unfortunate the company waited so long to recall the product as jury felt they knew it was dangerous and they waited much longer than they should have before they recalled the device. Again we see another case where a decision is made by a company to put profits before people. Hopefully this verdict will send a message to medical device and drug companies that there is a price they will pay for not properly testing their products or pulling them off the market fast enough if they find out they are hurting people.”
If you have been injured due to a defective medical device, the attorneys at d’Oliveira and Associates recommend you do your research to find the best DePuy ASR Hip Implant lawyer you can as you may only have one chance to get justice. We are working with some of the more experienced DePuy ASR Hip Implant attorneys in the country who are filing DePuy ASR Hip Implant lawsuits and there is no fee until you obtain a DePuy ASR Hip Implant settlement or award.
For more information about the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement, go to our webpage HERE.
For a free legal consultation, call 1-800-992-6878 or fill out a contact form for a free legal consultation.
Paul d’Oliveira
Attorney Paul d’Oliveira has been practicing personal injury and disability law for over 30 years. He started his personal injury law practice in 1989 with two offices in Fall River, MA and East Providence, RI. Today his firm has 16 offices in RI and Southeastern, MA.
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