DePuy Expert Says Recalled Hips are Not Defective and Blames Surgeons
(February 27, 2013 – WASHINGTON, D.C.) Johnson & Johnson is claiming that their recalled DePuy ASR hip replacements are not defective and is blaming surgeons for their extreme failure rate. An expert witness for Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Avram Edidin, testified at trial this week that there are no design flaws in the DePuy ASR hip implant, even though the company itself determined that the hip replacement was defective. Johnson & Johnson’s expert witness blamed the ASR failures on surgeon placement rather than on a poorly designed hip product. Dr. Edidin was supposed to bolster J&J’s position in the case as an expert in the engineering of orthopedic devices, but his testimony will undoubtedly backfire for J&J as surgeons become outraged at being blamed for these failures.
Blaming Surgeon Placement
The cross-examination of Dr. Edidin provided moments straight out of a television court drama. Edidin testified that X-rays show the surgeon, in this case, implanted the hip cup at a 63 to 65-degree angle. He blamed this 65-degree inclination angle on the high metal wear experienced by the patient. Plaintiff’s attorney, Michael Kelley, then calmly placed a simple plastic protractor over the X-ray in question and showed the angle of the hip cup was actually 57.5 degrees. Kelly then asked Edidin, “You are aware you can find a protractor at Walgreens, are you not?” It was a moment of courtroom theatrics that lawyers dream about. Edidin did not explain the discrepancy.
Expert Claims ASR Hip Flawless
Dr. Edidin, who spent most of his career focused on spines, not hips, stood firmly behind the DePuy ASR, saying he saw no flaws or defects with the implant when he reviewed the design plans. However, attorney Michael Kelly followed up Edidin’s testimony by showing the jury an internal DePuy document labeling the ASR as a “defective product that would affect product performance and/or could cause health problems.” Asked if Edidin knew more about the design of the ASR hip than the DePuy President whose signature appeared on the report, Edidin replied, “yes.” Kelly followed with a one-two punch asking, “have you called them and asked them to put it back on the market?” Edidin answered, “no.”
Multi-Billions Allocated to Settle MoM Hip Cases
The company has reportedly set aside about $4,000,000,000 to cover costs of metal on metal hip cases. However, due to the number of lawsuits, settling the defective ASR litigation could end up costing Johnson & Johnson even more. So far, this first ASR trial has gone badly for J&J, with several company defense witnesses giving testimony that better supports the victim’s case.
Mctlaw is a leading law firm in the ongoing DePuy ASR litigation. They filed one of the first lawsuits against DePuy and have played a key role in the legal proceedings leading up to this point. The law firm does NOT file lawsuits against orthopedic doctors. Actually, our attorneys work very closely with our client’s Orthopedic Surgeons to help build their case against DePuy. We strongly believe the problem is with the product, not the surgeon or the surgical technique.
If you were hurt by a defective DePuy ASR Hip Implant, contact the attorneys at mctlaw. They’ll talk to you about the best way to move forward with your case against DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. Contact their offices at (888) 952-5242 or fill out their online case evaluation form.
The trial is Kransky v. DePuy, BC456086, California Superior Court, Los Angeles County (Los Angeles).
