Defectively designed metal-on-metal hip implants cause injury to thousands of victims
Mass Tort - Defective Medical Device
San Francisco Superior Court
Johnson & Johnson, Inc., and DePuy Orthopedics, designed, manufactured, advertised, marketed and sold thousands of defective metal-on-metal hip implants, which ultimately failed and necessitated revision surgeries in thousands of victims.
Settlement
$1,250,000

YUHL | CARR LLP represented multiple Plaintiffs as part of the DePuy ASR Hip Implant Litigation, instituted after Johnson & Johnson and DePuy Orthopedics issued a recall of its metal-on-metal ASR hip implant devices.  The cases were coordinated as part of a Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding alongside thousands of other California residents that had been harmed by these defective devices.

Plaintiffs contended that Defendants continued to market and sell the metal-on-metal proshtesis to unspecting patients, and solicited doctors to select its device, for three years after substantial evidence demonstrated an unacceptably high failure rate for these metal-on-metal hips.  The recall issued by Defendants came far too late, and thousands of victims had to undergo painful "revision" surgeries, in which their hip replacement surgery had to effectively be "redone," often just as the victim was starting to recover from the first surgery.  Some claimants had to undergo multiple revision surgeries, as some implants failed so soon that they were actually replaced by another one of Defendants' implants, before it was known that Defendants' device was defective.

Defendants denied any design flaws or liability and denied that they negligently delayed the recall. Defendants claimed that they acted promptly and reasonably once the conclusive medical evidence on failure rates was known and accepted in the medical community, warranting the recall.

Of the multiple Plaintiffs represented by YUHL | CARR, some had relatively good outcomes following their revision surgeries, while others experienced severe complications.  One such Plaintiff had to undergo a spinal fusion surgery due to the fact that his gait -- the way he walked -- had been altered from the painful limp he had developed as a result of the defective ASR device. Defendant initially denied that the need for spinal fusion surgery was related to the need for ASR revision surgery, but upon an appeal and after submitting conclusive evidence, eventualy accepted this claim.  Another claimant was required undergo revision not only of the ASR cup, but also the femoral stem that was drilled into the femur. 

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the maximum award for any claimant in the coordinated proceeding was $250,000, with a reduction for factors such as age at the time of implant, number of years before revision surgery, smoking, among others.  Collectively, YUHL | CARR LLP recovered more than $1,250,000 for its clients, including awards for extraordinary injuries after contested appeals.