MDL Panel Hearing For Texas DePuy Hip Replacement Litigation
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) is meeting on November 18 in Durham, North Carolina.to centralize all federal DePuy ASR recall lawsuits.
The DePuy metal-on-metal hip was recalled after medical data suggested that about one out of every 8 people, if not more, who received the artificial hip may have their DePuy ASR hip fail within five years.
Some plaintiffs are seeking to have the cases consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey under Judge Susan D. Wigenton, where many of the cases are currently pending.
The DePuy ASR hip failures appear to be linked to a defective design of the acetabular cup, making it prone to problems.
The benefits of a MDL include a reduction in duplicative discovery among thousands of similar cases, avoid conflicting rulings from judges in different districts.