On January 25, 2013, opening statements began in a trial that will likely have major implications on more than 10,000 lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson.
The case of Kransky v. DePuy, et.al. is the first of many impending claims against Johnson & Johnson for its DePuy ASR XL product to reach trial. The DePuy ASR XL is Johnson & Johnson’s metal-on-metal hip implant device that was recalled from the market in 2010.
Plaintiff Loren Kransky alleges that debris resulting from the friction of the DePuy ASR XL’s metal-on-metal design ultimately caused its failure. To the contrary, J&J is arguing that the amount of metal measured in Kransky was not enough to cause any adverse systemic health effects.
According to Bloomberg (www.bloomberg.com), Robert Harrison, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told jurors that DePuy should have analyzed and tested for the effects of elevated chromium and cobalt levels in the human body before the product was put on the market. Harrison also concluded that “toxicity caused by the elevated levels of chromium and cobalt in the blood led to Kransky’s hip failure.” Kransky’s blood tests showed that his levels of cobalt and chromium reached as much as seven times normal after he received the ASR hip.
A Reuters (www.reuters.com) article also noted that a J&J report presented at the trial showed that the company had estimated a 37 percent failure rate within about five years of implant surgery. The DePuy ASR XL implants were developed to be more durable than traditional implants with ceramic or plastic components, but have failed at a higher rate that the traditional implants.
If you or someone you know have been injured by a defective metal-on-metal hip implant, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or 713-222-7211.