U.S. District Court Judge David Katz has appointed Walkup Attorneys Michael A. Kelly and Khaldoun Baghdadi to a national committee of attorneys overseeing a proposed multibillion dollar settlement of as many as 7,700 ASR metal-on-metal defective hip cases.
Kelly, Baghdadi and Walkup partner Matthew Davis were part of the trial team that prevailed in the only ASR trial to date where a patient was awarded money against DePuy Orthopedics, the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary which made and marketed the defective devices.
The settlement announced in Judge Katz’s Toledo, Ohio courtroom on Tuesday November 19, 2013 contemplates a process for resolving as many as 8,000 claims for those patients who have undergone a premature revision of their failed hip implant.
The settlement covers only those patients who have undergone a revision and does not include payment to those who are awaiting revision or the thousands of patients who still have devices in place and who may be experiencing high levels of cobalt and chromium in their blood, joint pain, pseudo tumors or other complications.
Many thousands of ASR patients have been through a very difficult and painful experience.
Some have been able to avoid having their devices removed, but as many as 15,000 of the original 45,000 implanted may end up ultimately requiring a revision surgery. To date almost 8,000 patients have required premature revision and 7,700 have filed suit.
The most unfortunate have suffered complicated postsurgical recoveries after their devices were removed. Others whose devices were put in in 2008, 2009 and 2010 are only now developing symptoms sufficient for their doctors to order a revision and replacement.
From the outset of this patient safety disaster, the Walkup firm has been at the leading edge of the litigation.
Working with lawyers in jurisdictions across the country, they helped to efficiently and economically coordinate efforts to review 40 million pages of documents; schedule, plan and conduct depositions of DePuy employees and former employees in England, Ireland, California, Indiana, New Jersey and elsewhere; identified, retained and worked with leading scientists and experts from around the world, and dedicated substantial resources, time and effort to prepare and try these cases.
This settlement which was announced by Judge Katz attempts to address the claims of those ASR patients who have undergone a revision surgery.
ASR patients who have yet to undergo a revision surgery maintain all their legal rights, as do those who have become symptomatic but are unable to undergo a revision surgery because of medical or other reasons.
As members of the settlement oversight committee Mike and Khaldoun will participate in the process of making sure that clients and lawyers nationwide understand the parameters of the proposed settlement in a given case so that each individual client can make a knowing and intelligent decision as to whether or not to participate, and will continue to work on behalf of those patients who have not undergone a revision, to make sure their rights are protected should a revision become medically necessary.
Patients with questions about the settlement who do not already have a metal-on-metal defective hip lawyer should contact Walkup Melodia at 1-415-981-7210, or via email at mdavis@walkuplawoffice.com.
