In a blow to plaintiffs in the Pinnacle hip litigation, Johnson & Johnson has successfully defended the first trial over its Pinnacle hip implant. Bloomberg recently reported on the defense verdict in the first Pinnacle hip trial.
More than six thousand lawsuits have been filed over the Pinnacle device. Cases filed in federal court have been consolidated in Dallas. Plaintiffs in the Pinnacle hip implant litigation, as well as those filing lawsuits over other faulty metal-on-metal hip implants, claim to be suffering from complications such as:
- Severe pain;
- Damage to the bone and tissues around the implant;
- Dislocation of the implant;
- Infection;
- Particle debris in the area around the implant; and
- Metal ions in the bloodstream, known as metallosis.
The first Pinnacle case to go to trial involved a woman claiming that the Pinnacle implants she received caused the release of cobalt and chromium into her blood resulting an infection. The devices had to be surgically removed.
The eight-week trial was held in federal court in Dallas. The jury deliberated over three days before finding for the manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson. The plaintiff’s lawyer argued that the metal-on-metal design resulted in the toxic metals being released into the plaintiff’s bloodstream and that the manufacturer knew of the problem. The defense pointed to surgical error, not a design flaw with the implants, as the cause of the plaintiff’s problems.
The Pinnacle hip cases were not included with the $2.5 billion settlement over Johnson & Johnson’s ASR hip implant last year.
Complications such as these can substantially impact a person’s quality of life and ability to work. In addition, correcting problems caused by defective hip implants may require costly and painful surgeries. When complications are caused by a faulty device, victims of defective hip implants may recover for these and other losses by filing a legal claim against the device manufacturer. The hip implant lawyers of Lopez McHugh, LLP are committed to helping victims hurt by defective medical devices recover compensation for their injuries. Call us today at (877) 737-8525 to schedule a free case analysis of your metal-on-metal hip implant lawsuit.
