ST. LOUIS — A Henderson, Nevada, woman is suing the designer and manufacturer of a medical device, citing an alleged design defect that resulted in permanent hip injury.
Charlene Geller filed a complaint July 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against Depuy Orthopaedics Inc., Depuy Products Inc., Depuy International Inc., Depuy International Limited, Johnson & Johnson and Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., alleging the defendants failed to use due care in designing and manufacturing the Pinnacle device to avoid risk to people who had the devices implanted.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on July 17, 2007, she underwent a total right hip arthroplasty at St. Rose Dominican Hospital. After implanting the defendants' pinnacle device in her right hip, the plaintiff claims she began experiencing pain and difficulty of motion around her implant. As a result, she underwent a hip revision surgery to replace the device, which carries the risks of complications and death from further surgery.
The plaintiff holds the defendants responsible because they allegedly failed to exercise reasonable care in the designing, researching, manufacturing, marketing, supplying, sale, testing, quality assurance, quality control and distribution of the Pinnacle device before introducing to the public and medical experts.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks seek judgment for damages, court costs, pre and post-judgment interest, attorney's fees, compensatory damages, and for all such other relief as to which plaintiff may show herself justly entitled. She is represented by Jeffrey J. Lowe and James J. Rosemergy of Carey Danis and Lowe in Clayton, Missouri.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri case number 4:17-cv-01967