More than 300 claims for DePuy Pinnacle compensation have been consolidated into one “multi-district litigation” case (MDL) that will be heard in Texas in the United States.
The claims have been made due to injuries which are comparable to the DePuy ASR hip replacement systems that were recalled in August 2010 after a higher than expected failure rate was acknowledged. The reason for the consolidation into one MDL is to help those making claims for DePuy Pinnacle compensation to have their cases heard quicker and recover compensation for their faulty hip replacement systems sooner.
Although it is not unusual for compensation claims in the States to be combined in this way, the high number of claimants so soon after the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system was brought to the market is alarming. Only introduced in 2008 – five years later than the recalled DePuy ASR hip replacement systems – the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system avoided testing by the Food and Drug Administration due to a process known as the 501(k) process.
This process enables manufacturers of medical devices to avoid clinical testing for their products by displaying that they are similar in design and function to an existing product on the market. In the case of the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system, its design was passed as being similar to the recalled ASR hip replacement system.
A similar “backdoor” process enabled the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system to bypass the Irish Medicines Board and Health Service Executive, and now recipients of the faulty Pinnacle hip device may be beginning to experience symptoms identical to those injured by the DePuy ASR hip replacements.
If you or a loved one has been the recipient of a DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system, you are advised to see your doctor for a blood test immediately. If a high level of system toxicity is identified, you will be required to undergo revision surgery – even if your DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system is still functioning properly.
Thereafter speak with a solicitor about making claims for DePuy Pinnacle compensation. The process is similar to that for making DePuy hip recall compensation claims except, at the moment, DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. have not admitted their negligence in the design and manufacture of the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement system.