Attorney Trent Miracle has been appointed by federal Judge Katz to serve on the discovery steering committee for cases against DePuy Orthopaedics in the national hip implant products liability litigation
EAST ALTON, Ill. – Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC Shareholder Trent Miracle, head of the law firm’s pharmaceutical litigation division, has been chosen to fill a leadership position in the national litigation related to the recall of 90,000 ASR hip implants. Cases against DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, were consolidated in December before U.S. District Judge David A. Katz in the Northern District of Ohio.
“It’s an honor to be selected to participate in such an important national role for the DePuy litigation,” Miracle said. “Judge Katz appointed a very talented group of attorneys to spearhead the national efforts and I’m looking forward to working with them and helping bring these cases to a successful resolution for our clients.”
DePuy Orthopaedics issued an August 2010 recall of more than 90,000 ASR hip implants because patients experienced a higher revision rate than originally estimated. Data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales revealed that 1 in 8 patients who had ASR hip implants required a second surgery within five years of their original hip replacement surgery. Symptoms reported included swelling, pain and trouble walking related to problems with the device slipping away from the bone where it was attached or dislocating. The device has also been linked to reports of metal poisoning, caused when the device components rub together and release metal shavings into the blood stream.
Miracle said his role on the discovery committee will include organizing teams to complete a thorough review of DePuy’s internal documents as well as coordinate and conduct depositions all in preparation for trial of cases against DePuy. This is not the first time Miracle has been selected to serve a leadership role in national litigation. In 2009, he was appointed to the plaintiffs’ steering committee in the Yaz and Yasmin birth control multidistrict litigation. Miracle has also worked on litigation against other defective medical devices and dangerous drugs including Vioxx, Bextra, Ortho Evra, Ephedra and Phenylpropanolamine, Oxycontin and others.
