Hundreds of patients begin legal action over ‘faulty’ implants

HUNDREDS OF patients have begun the first round of a lengthy legal battle for compensation over allegedly “defective” hip implants.

A group of 341 claimants are involved in a High Court action brought against manufacturer DePuy over allegations relating to the failure of metal-on-metal implants.

The trial, which centres on Pinnacle Ultamet implants, is being heard in London by Mrs Justice Andrews and is expected to last until January. Lawyers representing patients say it is believed to be one of the largest “product liability” group actions in the UK.

At the start of the proceedings yesterday, Robin Oppenheim QC, for the claimants, told the judge that this stage of the Pinnacle litigation related only to a “preliminary” issue – whether or not DePuy is “liable” to them.

The action, which is being contested by DePuy, has been brought on behalf of patients who claim to have been injured as a result of the early failure and consequent revision surgery of their metal-on-metal prosthetic hips.

Hundreds more metal-on-metal claims against a number of other manufacturers are said to be on hold pending the outcome of the current trial.

Lawyers will claim that their clients were affected by the release of metal particles from the implants, which can lead to severe soft tissue reactions and muscle necrosis. It will be alleged that symptoms included pain, difficulty walking, swelling and numbness or loss of sensation in the leg.

The judge is expected to hear videolink evidence from lead claimants in the case. Mr Oppenheim said the claimants’ case is that the “products supplied to them were defective ... and that this caused them personal injury including revision surgery in each case”. He told the court: “A product is defective where it does not provide the safety which a person is entitled to expect.”

The QC said the claims have been made under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, which implemented into English law the Product Liability Directive 1985. Bozena Michalowska Howells, from law firm Leigh Day, the lead solicitor for the Pinnacle metalon-metal group litigation, said claimants “believe that the Pinnacle device has failed to deliver”.

The case continues.