Motion to Consolidate DePuy Hip Recall Lawsuits Filed

A plaintiff from California has filed a motion with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to centralize and consolidate all federal DePuy hip recall lawsuits to a single court.

Although there were only a handful of lawsuits filed prior to the recall, DePuy hip recall lawyers anticipate the number of lawsuits related to DePuy hip implant failure to increase dramatically as more injured parties receive word about the recall.

The Motion to Transfer, filed Sept. 3, requested that federal DePuy hip recall litigation be consolidated to a Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) in the U.S District Court of New Jersey.

If the motion is approved, DePuy hip recall lawsuits filed throughout the nation in different federal courts will all be transferred to a single court for pretrial proceedings. Consolidating similar lawsuits to a single court can greatly reduce discovery and litigation costs for both parties involved as well as drastically reduce the burden on the court system.

Last month DePuy announced the recall of ASR hip resurfacing and replacement systems due to abnormally high failure rate associated with the devices. The recalled ASR Hip Resurfacing components were never approved for sale in the U.S. and therefore should not affect most Americans, but the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular Hip Replacement system was used in thousands of hip replacement surgeries between 2006 and 2009.

The recalled hip implants were especially popular among younger patients with more active lifestyles, because it was advertised as being less prone to dislocation than other models. Studies however have shown the failure rate associated with DuPuy ASR implants to be as high as 13 percent.

The MDL panel will likely hear arguments from those who oppose the motion in the coming months and most likely rule on the motion before the end of the year.