“Bellwether Trial” for DePuy ASR Hip Lawsuits (Walter Eisner @ OTW)
More than 6,000 lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts by patients who claim they were harmed by DePuy Orthopaedics Inc.’s ASR metal-on-metal hip.
Lawyers have now agreed in front of a federal judge to conduct a “bellwether trial,” to help determine potential liability and damages, according to a May 1 Bloomberg report.
The lawsuits, according to court documents, share factual issues as to whether DePuy’s ASR XL Acetabular Hip System, a device used in hip replacement surgery, was defectively designed and/or manufactured, and whether DePuy failed to provide adequate warnings concerning the device, which DePuy recalled along with another ASR device, the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, in August 2010.
6,200 Lawsuits
Lawyers for patients and the company reportedly met with the Ohio federal judge overseeing the pretrial collection of evidence in 4,200 federal lawsuits. Another 2,000 are in state courts. Both sides are negotiating a way to choose suitable plaintiffs to help resolve whether the company bears blame and how much each case could be worth, said the Bloomberg article.
“The parties are in agreement th...
