DePuy ASR Lawsuit Update: Rottenstein Law Group Addresses J&J Motion to Appeal $8.3 Million Verdict

Following a Los Angeles jury’s award of $8.3 million to plaintiff Loren Kransky in a DePuy ASR lawsuit, manufacturer Johnson & Johnson has asked the Los Angeles Superior Court to put the award on hold while it files an appeal, according to court documents. The Rottenstein Law Group urges those looking to file a DePuy ASR lawsuit to not get discouraged by this news.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 30, 2013

Following a Los Angeles jury’s award of $8.3 million to plaintiff Loren Kransky in a DePuy ASR lawsuit, manufacturer Johnson & Johnson has asked the Los Angeles Superior Court to put the award on hold while it files an appeal, according to court documents. The Rottenstein Law Group urges those looking to file a DePuy ASR lawsuit to not get discouraged by this news.

“Whenever a court awards millions of dollars to a plaintiff, an appeal by the defendant follows almost as a matter of course—the costs of appealing are small compared to the judgment amount, so the defendant has relatively little to lose by challenging the trial court judgment in an appellate court,” said Rochelle Rottenstein, principal of the Rottenstein Law Group. “But an appeal is often a difficult thing to win, and the simple fact of the appeal should not be discouraging to anyone considering legal action against the maker of a drug or medical product that caused harm. If the facts show that the product hurt the victim, and the law provides for holding the manufacturer accountable for that harm, then there is little to fear from an appeal of a verdict for the victim."

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DePuy ASR Recall Lawsuit Update: Rottenstein Law Group Anticipates Verdict in 2nd DePuy Hip Trial

The Rottenstein Law Group represents clients in metal-on-metal hip lawsuits and maintains a website at http://www.depuyrecallnewscenter.com, which provides news and information on hip lawsuits and the DePuy hip implant recall.

(PRWEB) April 12, 2013

The jury in the nation’s second DePuy ASR trial is expected to deliberate next week in Chicago to determine if Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary DePuy must pay plaintiff Carol Strum damages for injuries she allegedly suffered from her DePuy ASR metal-on-metal hip implant, according to court documents (In Re DePuy ASR Hip Litigation, No. 2011-L-009352, Cook County [Ill.] Circuit Court). The Rottenstein Law Group represents clients in metal-on-metal hip lawsuits and maintains a website at http://www.depuyrecallnewscenter.com, which provides news and information on hip lawsuits and the DePuy hip implant recall.

Strum, a 54-year-old nurse from Illinois, alleges that Johnson & Johnson failed to warn of the risks associated with the device’s defective design, according to Bloomberg.* Strum’s husband testified that his wife’s 2009 DePuy ASR implantation and 2011 revision surgery have left her unable to participate in the activities she once enjoyed, according to court documents.

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Former DePuy Consultant Affirms Defective Hip Design

In a startling revelation about apparently caught both prosecution and defense in confusion, a former Johnson & Johnson has testified that the company failed in its own safety test in designing sn all-metal hip implant, media reports say, quoting insights from legal observers familiar with the manufacturing industry. George Samaras claimed that artificial hip designers at DePuy Orthopaedics changed the protocol instead of fixing the flaw. According to a New York Times editorial, Johnson & Johnson will have a lot of explaining to do with this latest disclosure.

Samaras testified for complainant Loren Kransky, who has failed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, claiming that the ASR XL hip design implanted her was defective and the company failed to warn her against the complications.

The company had voluntarily recalled its 93,000 ASR hips Systems in 2010 after saying 12 percent failed within five years. It was actually the National Joint Registry of Wales that has discovered the alarming growth in number of defective implants and triggered the recall.

Samaras told jurors in the Los Angeles federal court that DePuy failed the safety standard it set up for the ASR hip cup, in which a metal ball atop the femur rotates. He cited an internal document showing the ASR produced 16 times more chromium and cobalt debris in the body than another DePuy product. While DePuy’s review standards said the ASR should have failed, the company said it passed, Samaras said.

According to Samaras, a biomedical engineer who runs a consulting firm near Pueblo, Colorado, that the practice was horrible and that it was not the work of good engineers.

However, Johnson & Johnson denied Kransky’s claims, including failure to warn against defective design and negligent recall. In his opening statement, Alexander Calfo, a lawyer for Johnson & Johnson, said the ASR was properly designed. He said claims by Kransky, 65, of elevated metal levels in his body can be traced to his many other health problems, including diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, strokes and cancer.

Samaras said DePuy’s original design criteria said the ASR had to be at least as good as predecessor devices at the company. When that failed, DePuy found other devices for comparisons that put the ASR in a more favorable light, he said.

Samara also said that DePuy changed the test  but did not consider certain modifications in the design which has caused thousands of DePuy ASR hip problems.

URL REFERENCES:

bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-28/j-j-failed-its-own-safety-test-in-hip-design-witness-testifies.html

njrcentre.org.uk/njrcentre/default.aspx

DePuy Recall Lawsuit Update: Rottenstein Law Group Acknowledges the Role of an FDA Regulatory Shortcut in DePuy Lawsuits

The Rottenstein Law Group, which represents hip replacement recipients in DePuy lawsuits, reacts to a New England Journal of Medicine article that traces the DePuy ASR recall to an FDA regulatory shortcut called the “510(k) process.”

(PRWEB) January 10, 2013

The Rottenstein Law Group acknowledges an article in the New England Journal of Medicine that pinpoints key problems with an FDA [regulatory shortcut that was a precursor to the DePuy ASR recall and DePuy lawsuits because of the device’s severe side effects.

The 510(k) process allows devices to be fast-tracked for approval that are similar to those that have already been approved. The devices can go to market without having to demonstrate safety and effectiveness through clinical studies. The DePuy ASR, a metal-on-metal hip replacement system, was one of those fast-tracked devices when Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy began selling it in July 2008 after receiving FDA clearance without any clinical study, according to the NEJM article.

“Recipients of the DePuy ASR who believe they have been injured by the device’s serious side effects need a strong advocate,” said Rochelle Rottenstein, principal of the Rottenstein Law Group, which represents hip replacement recipients in DePuy lawsuits. “Our regulatory bodies are supposed to protect patients, not possibly put them into more danger.”

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