DePuy Hip lawsuits against the manufacturer Johnson & Johnson may be consolidated into a multidistrict litigation. A motion for such consolidation was filed on September 3rd with the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
Lawsuits that are consolidated into an MDL are normally approved if they have similar fact patterns, the same defendant, and demonstrate that such consolidation will expedite the lawsuits through the court system.
The hip manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson recently announced a DePuy hip recall of the device after data from the National Joint Registry of England showed that 12-13% of DePuy hips have had to be replaced within 5 years of implantation. Approximately 93,000 DePuy hips have been implanted worldwide.
Because Johnson & Johnson does not maintain a database of DePuy hip transplant patients, those who’ve undergone a hip transplant since July 2003 have been advised to check with their surgeon about their hip implant. Even those patients who are not experiencing any symptoms of hip implant failure have been encouraged to check with their surgeon for further testing in order to determine if their hip is defective.