Articles Posted in Product Liability

My wife was at work when  a fire occurred.  Her employer says the  fire occurred  because a problem with a machine in the plant.  She was badly burned.  What are her legal rights? 

At an absolute minimum, your wife will be able to recover benefits under Tennessee’s worker’s compensation law.  Stated briefly, her medical bills will be paid, she will receive a portion of her normal wages until she is able to return to work, and she will receive an additional payment for any disability she has as a result of the injury.

However, your wife also may have a tort claim against the company that manufactured, installed, or maintained  the machine in question.  Thus, it is essential that an investigation be conducted to determine why the fire occurred.  Was there a problem with the machine from the day it was made?  Was it installed incorrectly?   Was it not properly maintained?  Was one or more of these things responsible for the cause of the fire?

I have filed a lawsuit concerning my Depuy ASR hip implant and it is part of the MDL.  How soon will additional action be required from me?

I mentioned in an earlier post  that the court overseeing the cases for defective Depuy ASR hip implants issued an order requiring claimants to file forms describing when the patient received the implant and providing some medical records from the patient’s treatment. Originally, the judge set a deadline for all claimants to file the form at the same time, but the judge recently changed the order.

Now, all claimants who are already in the combined Depuy cases have one deadline to file the completed form– July 5, 2011. Any claimants who file their lawsuits after June 2, 2011have thirty days from the date they file the lawsuit to file the information form.

I  have a Depuy hip implant that is part of the recall.  I understand that the cases are part of an "MDL" and that those cases are being litigated?  What does MDL mean?  What is going on in the Depuy hip cases?

An MDL is set up when a significant number of cases are filed in federal court and the judicial system determines that judicial economy would be best-served if the cases are consolidated before one judge for pre-trial purposes.  In the cases involving the Depuy hip implants, the federal courts decided that consolidation of the cases was appropriate and that the cases should be sent to one judge in Ohio.

MDL cases are usually handled differently from a typical case. The judge who oversees the combined cases creates new rules and systems to more efficiently handle the number of related lawsuits. One way that judges streamline the process is to create unique rules for the parties to exchange information and documents.

I had a hip replacement a couple years ago.  I have had nothing but grief since.  I have heard that the DePuy ASR hip has been recalled.  How do I find out if the hip I had replaced was made by DePuy and is one of the recalled hips?

Your doctor will have records of the hip replacement product that was used and, if he or she does not, the hospital will have records that will show what product was used.  You need to learn both who the manufacturer was and what model was used.  Each device that is implanted also comes with a serial number and you should get that number as well.

As I said, you can get this information yourself or ask the assistance of a lawyer who is handling hip replacement cases.  Remember that certain deadlines apply to take legal action and therefore you are encouraged to act as soon as possible.  Failure to take appropriate action on time will result in a loss of your rights. 

I have a DePuy hip implant that has been recalled.  What is going on with the litigation?

Our firm is actively involved in these cases.  We have filed seven cases and are evaluating several more.   Our cases were originally filed in federal court in Nashville.  The federal courts have determined that justice is best-served if all cases in the nation that are filed in federal court are temporarily managed in one federal court.  Therefore, all of the cases have been transferred to a federal judge in Ohio for pretrial proceedings.

The federal judge is in the process of appointing which lawyers will actively manage all of the cases for the patients.  As soon as that decision is made (and that could happen any day now) the litigation will be actively moving forward.

My hip replacement, a DePuy ASR, has been recalled?   I had my surgery in Nashville 3 years ago  and it has given me a lot of trouble.  What is my deadline for taking legal action?

You have what is known as a product liability claim, and under Tennessee law you have one year from the date you discover or reasonably should discover that you have a problem related to a defective hip.  Exactly when your rights expire depends on when you knew or should have known of the condition, but certainly it is no later than one year after you received the recall letter.

Failure to take appropriate legal action within the period required by law will result in a loss of your rights.

I have a DePuy hip implant that has been recalled.  What is my deadline for taking legal action?

Under Tennessee law you have one year from the date you knew or should have known that your hip problems were related to a problem with the implant itself.  For people who are currently symptom-free it is safe to assume that the one year started on the day you received the recall letter.  If you did not receive a letter you should assume that the one-year period for action started on the date you first heard about the recall on the news (or otherwise) and knew that it applied to the hip implant that you had inserted.

If you had hip problems before the recall the exact legal deadline will depend on what you knew about the nature of the problem and when you knew it.  An experienced product liability lawyer will help you ascertain the date but immediate action is suggested.