British Parliament Members Decry DePuy ASR Hip and Call for Johnson & Johnson DePuy Criminal Inquiry

depuy_asr_hip_replacement_recall_lawsuit_johnson_johnson_criminal_trial_british_parliament_dercyAccording to a Telegraph article published in early February, members of the British Parliament are shocked by the data collected, and until recently withheld, in internal studies of a hip implant developed by DePuy, Inc.

DePuy, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, continued to pursue a market presence with its DePuy ASR Hip Replacement system despite the fact that they were well aware that the DePuy ASR Hip, when compared to other hip implants, had a significantly higher failure rate. In fact, internal documents dating from June 2007 reveal that the DePuy ASR Hip failed 10 percent of the time in only 2 years.

The Telegraph report cites that DePuy engineers were warned of hip implant complications by British health officials, more specifically a prominent a British surgeon, Dr. David Beverland. Apparently, Dr. Beverland wrote numerous emails to a DePuy engineer whenever he observed health complications in his hip implant patients.

After hearing about DePuy’s handling of its defective hip implant, Andrew Miller, a Labour Member of Parliament and the Science and Technology Committee chair, exhibited shock and dismay at the efforts taken by a medical device manufacturer to market a defective and harmful product. In light of this, Miller brought up the need for a “criminal inquiry”. Another Member of Parliament mentioned that he would broach the topic before Parliament’s Health Committee.

The Telegraph also mentioned the trial being held in a California Superior Court in Los Angeles County, the trial Kransky v. DePuy, Inc. The plaintiff, Loren Kransky, received a DePuy ASR Hip Replacement, and after experiencing severe pain and contracting metallosis, filed a lawsuit against DePuy.

Lawyers at Carey Danis & Lowe continue to closely follow the Kransky v. DePuy trial in Los Angeles. In addition, following this Telegraph article, we plan to monitor any investigations into the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement system in Britain.

Carey Danis & Lowe is offering free legal evaluations regarding DePuy ASR Hip Replacement cases. To discuss filing a DePuy ASR Hip Replacement lawsuit, contact a lawyer at Carey Danis & Lowe at 800.721.2519.