DePuy Prodigy Stem Lawsuit Alleges Hip Implant Is Defective

Irvin Jackson

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Johnson & Johnson faces a product liability lawsuit over its DePuy Prodigy femoral stem, indicating that the hip implant was defectively designed and caused a woman to experience complications that required the device to be surgically removed.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Joan Conboy Miller in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Northern Carolina on February 12, naming Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy subsidiary as defendants.

Miller indicates that she underwent left-side total hip replacement surgery in October 2006, at which time she received a DePuy Prodigy Stem, lined to a DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup and other components. As a result of problems with the DePuy Prodigy stem, Miller indicates that she ended up undergoing revision surgery in February 2013, although the device was expected to last much longer.

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The lawsuit indicates that the stem failed because it was not manufactured in accordance with Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations. Miller also claims that the true DePuy Prodigy failure rates are higher than those the manufacturer has reported to the FDA.

“DePuy received numerous reports of failures of Prodigy stems prior to the date of Plaintiff’s implant and revision similar to the failure alleged by Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states. “At the same time, there were and are safer alternative artificial hip products readily available in the marketplace from other manufacturers which do not have elevated failure rates.”

The lawsuit presents claims against the medical device manufacturers for strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, and failure to warn, seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.

The manufacturer also faces thousands of DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuits filed in courts throughout the United States, over problems linked to the metal-on-metal configuration of the artificial hip system. Plaintiffs allege that as the metal parts rub against each other, microscopic metal debris may be released into the body, increasing the risk of loosening and failure within a few years after the implant.

Given the similar allegations raised in the cases, all DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits are centralized in the Northern District of Texas before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to reduce duplicative discovery into common issues in the cases, avoid conflicting rulings from different courts and to serve the convenience of the parties, witnesses and the courts.

Irvin Jackson
Written by: Irvin Jackson

Senior Legal Journalist & Contributing Editor

Irvin Jackson is a senior investigative reporter at AboutLawsuits.com with more than 30 years of experience covering mass tort litigation, environmental policy, and consumer safety. He previously served as Associate Editor at Inside the EPA and contributes original reporting on product liability lawsuits, regulatory failures, and nationwide litigation trends.

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1 Comments

Brian
I have the DePuy Pinnacle stem and head , though my surgeon was smart enough to use the ceramic head and cup liner , I was diagnosed with a hairline fracture by bone s an with contrast about two years into the total hip replacement I had at age forty four . First discussing surgery , the surgeon who did the surgery decided to send me to pain management for the first time. I had numerous other ortho injuries due to a fall n the job , including a broken back and displaced L-5 vertebrae , multiple herniated discs in my cervical spine , shoulder and knee injuries. I feel very lucky to have survived the pain management , immediately put on a fentanyl patch and gabapentin , and others. After quitting pan management , another bone scan with contrast was done at about seven years post op , still a clear fracture running almost the length of what remained of my femur. I refused pain management , but about two and a half years later started with a much better doctor who uses much different med’s. My point is that I believe the crack was present from surgery until today , fifteen years in and I can definitely feel the stem failing , the hip is beginning to feel as it did before replacement. I lost five years living in a narcotic nightmare that I quit almost cold turkey and would never allow to happen again , unless I was terminal and n horrible pain. The last couple of years near the end I was having facet joint blocks in cervical and lumbar spine every three months , before that , single or series of three injections regularly . I’ve had two spinal injections in over five years with the current pain doctor. I feel it was all caused by and the femoral fracture was present from surgery. Like most , I immediately was pan free and felt like my life was given back after three and a half years of fighting with workers comp because I had an imbecile E/R doctor at hospital after the fall. Just wondering if anyone had similar problems or complains after receiving the DePuy stem with screen , non cemented , replacement stem ?

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