DePuy Pinnacle Hip Class Action Goes to Trial in London

Trial began in London this week for a class action lawsuit involving hundreds of claims for individuals who have experienced problems with a DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement, raising allegations similar to those presented in thousands of U.S. lawsuits over the metal-on-metal implant.

According to a report published by the Telegraph, the hip class action is believed to be the largest of its kind in the U.K.’s history.

Trial began on Monday, involving claims that DePuy, and its parent company Johnson & Johnson, sold defective and unreasonably dangerous hip replacement systems, which may shed metallic debris into the body, causing catastrophic failure of the implant and the need for risky revision surgery.

The case involves about 300 individuals, but there are hundreds more on standby, awaiting outcome of the trial, which is projected to last through late January 2018.

In the United States, more than 9,000 hip replacement lawsuits are pending over the DePuy Pinnacle implant, and several early trial dates have resulted in massive damage awards agains the manufacturer.

In December 2016, Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopaedics subsidiary were hit with a staggering $1 billion verdict in a bellwether trial involving six plaintiffs. While the damages were later reduced to about $500 million, the verdict came after another jury award of $500 million for five plaintiffs in March 2016, which was later reduced to $151 million under Texas state damage caps.