Thousands upon thousands of patients have been impacted globally in what the New York Times said is “the most widespread medical implant failure in decades.” The failure is expected to cost billions of dollars to taxpayers, employers, Medicare, and insurance companies, a significant issue given the current economic climate. Complicating matters, the defect involves an array of companies and medical devices.

For instance, Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopaedics Unit alone is facing over 550 lawsuits for one of its all-metal hip devices, the Pinnacle, and 3,500 lawsuits for another device recalled last year. The recalled DePuy ASR hip implant device was implanted in 40,000 patients in the United States, The Times pointed out.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioned a hip implant study and discovered that new versions, such as the all-metal devices, offered no benefit over older devices. Worse, patients implanted with all-metal hips were likelier to need revision surgery versus patients implanted with older generation artificial hips.

Earlier this year, the agency mandated 21 all-metal hip implants makers—DePuy, Zimmer, Stryker, Biomet, and Wright Medical, to name a few—to carry out post-market device studies to ascertain if their devices were shedding metallic debris in patients, a problem which can lead to significant health issues.

Patients have complained of medical bills ranging from the tens of thousands into the hundreds of thousands of dollars above and beyond what insurance has covered. While some device makers have paid for some portions of their healthcare, substantial bills remain. And, notes The Times, with all-metal hip device lawsuits surpassing 5,000, insurers have said they will seek reimbursement of their costs from consumers who have won lawsuits and Medicare is also believed to attempt to recover its costs. The situation is only expected to worsen with tens of thousands more patients expected to suffer the effects of failed hip devices.

If you have been implanted with one of these defective devices, you should immediately seek advice from a lawyer that is knowledgeable about the DePuy hip implant recall and the injuries associated with these hip implants. For a free consultation with such an attorney, complete the form to the right or call 212-566-1000. Based in New York City, Sullivan & Brill, LLP represents clients throughout the United States.