A Legal Victory for mctlaw Clients and Future Plaintiffs as Pinnacle Hip MDL Comes to an End.
Sarasota, FL — (June 3, 2022)—A legal victory by attorneys at mctlaw means current and future Pinnacle hip replacement plaintiffs across the country will no longer have to wait years to begin pursuing their rights.
In 2011, a “Multi-District Litigation” was created in federal court to coordinate the many thousands of cases being filed over DePuy’s “Pinnacle” metal on metal hip implants. More than ten years later, the MDL largely sat dormant, with patients unable to move their cases forward.
mctlaw attorneys vigorously argued that the purpose of the Pinnacle MDL was complete, and it was time to litigate individual cases. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), which is responsible to make sure Pinnacle cases get transferred to the MDL, agreed with mctlaw’s arguments, stating that our client’s lawsuits and all future lawsuits would no longer be served by the Pinnacle MDL. Shortly afterward MDL Judge Ed Kinkeade ordered that the Pinnacle “MDL has effectively concluded,” ending an 11-year-long process.
What does this mean for future Pinnacle hip lawsuits? Our clients will no longer have to wait for years in the MDL to begin pursuing their cases. People hurt by defective DePuy Pinnacle hip replacements will now have faster access to justice. They will be able to tell their story to a jury more quickly and finally present evidence showing the injuries they’ve suffered.
This win for mctlaw’s clients is also a win for all current and future Pinnacle hip victims.
This is an enormous victory for patients across the country with Pinnacle hip replacements who are living with a ticking time bomb inside of them,” says mctlaw Managing Partner Altom Maglio. “Justice should be swift and now our clients and others can hold Johnson & Johnson, DePuy Orthopaedics, and their distributors accountable.”
In 2010 Johnson & Johnson issued a formal recall of the ASR metal-on-metal hip replacement because of the severe harm the device caused patients. However, J&J never recalled the Pinnacle metal on metal hip even though both implants had the same design defects and caused the same injuries to patients.
An MDL is meant to streamline lawsuits involving many people with similar issues. The lawsuits are transferred to a single court for the pretrial and discovery process. In some instances, the MDL conducts “bellwether” trials, or “test” trials, to see what kind of verdicts the victims can expect. Then the cases are either settled or sent back to their original court for trial.
“We are happy with this result. For years, J&J took advantage of this outdated MDL to delay justice. We look forward to further representing our clients in the next phase of this litigation,” says mctlaw partner Ilyas Sayeg.
About mctlaw: Known as a national leader in litigation, mctlaw represents clients across the country in defective hip implant lawsuits involving Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Pinnacle hip replacements, Biomet Magnum M2a implants, and Exactech Connexion GXL hip liners. Our team of 25 attorneys aggressively protects our client’s rights and guides them through disputes to resolution. The Firm’s has offices in Washington, DC; Sarasota, FL; and Seattle, WA. Learn more at https://www.mctlaw.com.
