DePuy Orthopedics’ Request for New Trial Rejected

California Judge Rejects DePuy’s Request for New Trial in $8.3 Million Personal Injury Case

DePuy Hip Replacement Devices have caused serious complications
A California judge rejected DePuy Orthopedics’ request for a new trial in the bellwether case initially decided in favor of the plaintiff.

In March, plaintiff Loren Kransky was awarded $8.3 million for his personal injury caused by his DePuy hip implant. Kransky was a Vietnam veteran who worked as a prison guard, and had an all-metal DePuy hip replacement in 2007. Since then, he has suffered metallosis, infection, and 25 corrective surgeries before he finally had the metal hip removed in 2012.

“I didn’t want to have the hip done because I had 25 surgical procedures done prior to that,” Kransky told jurors. “I thought that surgery was going to kill me. I thought I was going to die … I came to believe that I was going to have to do it because I was told that something in my body was poisoning me. I was told it could be the hip. I thought, ‘I’m going to die either way.’ One way would be slow and one would be fast. I took the lesser of two evils.”

While Kransky was awarded $8.3 million for personal injury, the award did not include punitive damages against DePuy. Regardless, the medical manufacturer decided to pursue a retrial anyway.

However, after asking for a retrial, California Judge J. Stephen Czuleger rejected the request. He maintained that the jury was correct in their decision that the metal-on-metal hip implants were defective.

Kransky’s personal injury trial was the first bellwether trial in DePuy’s multidistrict litigation. More than 900 personal injury cases have been consolidated in the US District Court of Northern Texas, with Judge Ed Kinkeade presiding. DePuy, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, has been accused of misrepresentation, neglect, and failure to properly design, manufacture, and market their hip replacement devices.

The second trial against DePuy was in Illinois, and the trial was decided in favor of the manufacturer.

The Strom Law Firm Can Help with DePuy ASR and Pinnacle Metal Hip Replacement Injury Lawsuits

The metal hip replacement devices manufactured by DePuy are dangerous. The FDA said: “It is known that over time, the metal particles around some implants can cause damage to bone and/or tissue surrounding the implant and joint.” In addition, the FDA adds that there are a “small number of patients in which high levels of metal ions in the bloodstream may have caused other types of symptoms or illnesses elsewhere in the body, including effects on the heart, nervous system, and thyroid gland.”

In August 2010, DePuy recalled a number of their metal hip replacement devices. Currently, the DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System has not been made a part of that recall.

If you or a loved one has received a metal hip replacement device, specifically from DePuy Orthopedics, and have since suffered painful side effects, you may be entitled to compensation. The attorneys at the Strom Law Firm can help. We offer free, confidential consultations to discuss the facts of your case, so do not hesitate to contact us. 803.252.4800

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