Product Liability and the DePuy Hip Replacement Recall

By now it should be clear to everyone that the DePuy recall came about because the manufacturer didn’t test its products. Worse, it delayed as long as possible instead of acting promptly when the first sign of trouble hit. Since 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration received 300 complaints about DePuy’s hip replacements, and the Australian National Joint Replacement Registry reported that the same hip implants failed within five years 12 to 13 percent of the time. The next question is what kind of legal options the recipients—now victims—have.

DePuy’s ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing System fail due to a phenomenon called “edge-loading,” meaning friction between the metal components causes bits of chromium and cobalt ions to flake off the implant and affect surrounding tissue. As this occurs, the implant weakens, fractures, or fails.

In a product liability lawsuit, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant’s product damaged him or her by (a) a design defect, (b) manufacturing defect, or (c) failing to warn consumers of latent dangers the product causes. For the DePuy hip replacements, design defects and failing to warn consumers are applicable. For a successful design defect case, the plaintiff must show DePuy didn’t test the product properly or used design methods that were demonstrably more dangerous than other ones. For failure-to-warn cases, the plaintiff must show DePuy knew of the products’ defects by failed to initiate the recall in a timely manner.

If you think you have a products liability lawsuit against DePuy. You may be entitled to compensation. The Rottenstein Law Group is accepting DePuy cases so complete the contact form to the right side of their website.

ArticleSource: ArticlesAlley.com