defective medical device

The American Association for Justice (AAJ), a leading plaintiff trial lawyers association, has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent the manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip implants from using a proposed change in the approval process to protect themselves from liability.

According to a Reuters news report, the defective metal hip implants were originally developed to be more long-lasting compared to plastic or ceramic devices. However, various studies worldwide have shown that the all-metal implants not only deteriorate sooner but also shed debris, damaging bone and tissue and causing metal toxicity in the patient’s blood, which could potentially lead to organ damage. Read the rest »

Consumers have piled up more than 80 product liability lawsuits against Stryker Orthopaedics claiming that the New Jersey-based medical device manufacturer sold them faulty hip implants that were later recalled from the market.

According to a news report in The Bergen Record, the case against Stryker is on track to become one of the biggest mass-tort litigations in Bergen County after plaintiffs’ attorneys nationwide notified a judge in Hackensack recently that hundreds of lawsuits are still on the way.

A 66-year-old Florida woman filed the first lawsuit against Stryker last summer. In her lawsuit, the woman alleged that she replaced her right hip with Stryker’s Rejuvenate implant and was told at the time that it would last for decades. Read the rest »

Three women from Saskatchewan, Canada, have created a new website aimed at raising awareness about the severe side effects and problems associated with transvaginal mesh implants. According to a report in CKOM.com, Marika English and Stephanie Brad are among those who started the website because they say they did not want other women to go through with vaginal mesh implant surgery without knowing all the “real risks.”

Brad and English speak frompersonal experience of course. Brad says she received a vaginal mesh implant to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Brad now says she suffers from excruciating pain.

She has also found since the launch of her web site that she is not alone. A number of women have called and emailed her saying that they did not even realize until they read information on her website that it was the mesh that was causing their problems. Read the rest »

A Los Angeles jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay more than $8.3 million in damages to Loren Kransky, a man who alleged that the DePuy ASR hip replacement device, manufactured by a subsidiary of J & J, caused him to suffer serious health complications including metal poisoning.

According to a report in The New York Times, the 12-member panel, which deliberated for five days, declined to issue punitive damages saying that DePuy, which made and marketed the all-metal hip implants, did not act with fraud or malice. The defectively designed implants, known as the Articular Surface Replacement or ASR, were recalled in 2010.

Read the rest »

The parents of a young woman who suffered a stroke after taking Yaz® birth control have filed a lawsuit on her behalf for her serious physical injuries.  The case has been joined with other claims in the Yaz® multidistrict litigation currently seeking damages for hundreds of women who were injured while taking the birth control drug.

The lawsuit seeks $75,000 for the daughter’s injuries, including loss of muscle control, loss of vision, and emotional pain and distress.

Read the rest »

This is part of an ongoing series we’ve reported on for the Depuy Hip Replacement.  Bisnar|Chase has filed and is currently litigating these types of hip replacement failure lawsuits.

A Los Angeles jury is continuing to deliberate on a product liability lawsuit filed by Loren Kransky, which alleges that he suffered metal poisoning and other complications from Johnson & Johnson’s ASR XL metal hip implant, manufactured by J & J subsidiary, DePuy Orthopedics.

According to a news report in the Los Angeles Times, an attorney for Kransky stated during closing arguments that J & J played “Russian roulette” with patient safety when it ignored high failure rates and surgeons’ complaints with regard to the metal hips.

Both sides presented their arguments to jurors before the jury began deliberating. The plaintiff’s attorney said J & J knew that these medical devices were defective and were likely to fail earlier than expected, long before Kransky received his metal implant. He argued that the company put profits ahead of patient safety and took the gamble.

J & J attorneys argued that Kransky’s health problems were not due to the metal implant, but because of his diabetes, kidney cancer and other medical issues that had nothing to do with the artificial hip. Read the rest »