Torrance, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/11/2013 -- The first of thousands of lawsuits regarding Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy and the recalled DePuy ASR Hip Replacement system is currently ongoing in California Superior Court, in Los Angeles. This DePuy ASR hip replacement lawsuit is important as it will set a precedent for thousands of suits filed against DePuy. In the ongoing trial, DePuy faces several allegations regarding the metal on metal hip replacement system. Several witnesses have provided testimony that paints DePuy in a particularly negative light. Witnesses including troubleshooters and bioengineers from inside DePuy, as well as salesmen, surgeons and professors from outside the company have testified in the ongoing DePuy ASR hip replacement lawsuit.

Initial testimony in the DePuy ASR hip replacement lawsuit was given by Magness Flet and Professor Dennis Bobyn. Flet led a design team and oversaw a group conducting failure mode and effects analysis. Flet testified that DePuy was aware of some of the issues surrounding the metal-on-metal hip system and that a redesign was rejected due to financial and business reasons. Professor Bobyn, of McGill University, testified that the device has multiple design defects. According to Bobyn these defects “alone or together cause it to fail at a much great rate than other hip implants.” Bobyn also testified that when the hip fails it generates an “excessive amount of cobalt and chromium wear debris.”

Additional witnesses in the DePuy ASR hip replacement lawsuit include bioengineer James Anderson and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Peter Wendt. Anderson was a bioengineer inside the Johnson and Johnson DePuy unit who spent three years studying a redesign of the ASR metal hip. Anderson testified as to his frustration when the proposed redesign was shut down with no changes to the hip, and that a “small improvement” in the geometry of the hip would have created large improvement for patients. Dr. Wendt testified that a DePuy sales representative was the first to inform him that there were issues with the hip. Dr. Wendt also testified that he was initially shown the device under the auspices it had a 98% success rate, statistics that the New England journal of medicine have clearly contradicted.

This initial testimony in the DePuy ASR hip replacement lawsuit is not painting DePuy in a positive light. With testimony that the DePuy ASR hip replacement is faulty and that DePuy intended to pull the device because “there are some problems with this” according to sales reps, the trial looks increasingly positive for the plaintiff, a former prison guard. Csengeri Law is dedicated to providing clients with the best legal counsel available in this type of implant recall situation. They can offer up to the minute advice regarding the rights and options for a victim of a recalled DePuy hip implant. Csengeri Law is currently offering free consultations to DePuy recall patients.

More information on the DePuy lawsuits and Csengeri Law is available here.

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