On Friday, a case was filed in the Southern District of Mississippi. The case was filed by a plaintiff family against DePuy Orthopedics Inc. and Johnson & Johnson as the parent company. The case involves a defective Attune Knee System that was implanted into one of the plaintiffs and the complications arising therefrom.
The complaint explained that the knee joint is the largest joint in the human body and one of the joints that is targeted for replacement due to osteoarthritis and other damage. Approximately 7000,000 total knee arthroplasty (also known as total knee replacements) are performed every year involving the replacement of the weight bearing portions of the tibia and femur and the complete replacement of the patella.
According to the plaintiff, the Attune Knee System was designed, marketed, and tested by DePuy. While the marketing from the product touted better results than prior replacement systems, the plaintiffs alleged that the new Attune system in fact had higher failure rates of the tibial baseplate and frequently require knee revision surgeries to remove and replace the defective device, specifically mechanical loosening of the lower tibial plate. Plaintiffs also note that in 2017, the defendants replaced the lower plate that suffers from the mechanical failure with a new cemented piece without notifying or recalling previous devices.
The plaintiff received his Attune device via surgery in 2016, prior to the new replacement part. He suffered from the mechanical loosening and was forced to undergo replacement surgery in 2019. He and his wife are suing DePuy for design defect product liability, negligence, failure to warn, manufacturing defects, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment, loss of consortium, and punitive damages.
The plaintiffs are represented by the firm of Dukes Dukes & Hunter.
