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Kip Petroff is a lawyer located in Dallas, TX. He is currently focusing on representing people injured by Smith & Nephew hip implants.
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Kip Petroff May 29, 2019 No Comments
Response to Public Posting on KP Web Page – Smith & Nephew Hip Implant Victims Face More Delays as Frustration Increases.
Yesterday I received a public posting from a man who is understandably frustrated with how things are working out for him in the Smith & Nephew hip implant MDL in Baltimore, MD. It is becoming more and more common for me to receive these types of frustrated comments from unhappy victims of Smith & Nephew's bad products. Here's what was posted on my website yesterday (edited for privacy):
"I'm a male from ny.I have a mdl case in Baltimore with smith and nephew. I had 1 replacement and 2 revisions on the same hip. Also I was recorded with a very elevated level of metallosis. I had to fill out a 250 page question form. Now they are picking at every little thing in my paperwork. Do they forget that their product failed 2 times and caused new health issues from the cobalt and chromium poisoning? I refuse to settle for chump change."
I don't know what kind of implant this man received, but a lawsuit has already been filed in the Smith & Nephew MDL, and I cannot help for that reason.
I receive public and private comments like this all the time. You need to contact your lawyer(s) about your lawsuit if it is already filed in Court. You can read my Blogs and the articles about Smith & Nephew that I have published (all are on my website), but I cannot help you or even talk with you about your case if you already filed a lawsuit. Our system of American Justice prohibits a lawyer from communicating with people who already have lawyers. That is a good rule because it protects people from unscrupulous lawyers who would try to confuse people even when they already have a lawyer. Talk to your lawyer about your case. The situation may not be as bad as you think. I simply cannot talk to you about your case if you have a lawyer.
I wish everyone the best with their Smith & Nephew lawsuits and with their health. I know a lot of people have been harmed by this bad company and its bad products, but keep in mind that the company did not implant this bad product in you. Your surgeon did that to you. Your surgeon probably had a commission-based Smith & Nephew sales rep encouraging the implantation with that device, and they both knew or should have known of concerns about the selected product. This is especially true with the total hip replacement cases.
My previous Blogs have explained the differences between the various Smith & Nephew hip implant cases, and not everyone with a Smith & Nephew case has a valid case against the surgeon and sales rep, but I think you probably do have a case against them if you were implanted with an unapproved combination of metal parts. You are weakening your case if you do not include everyone who wronged you. That is just my opinion, and not everyone agrees with me as evidenced by the hundreds of cases that do not include the surgeon and sales reps who directly wronged the patient.
I will continue to fight for everyone who has been injured by defective Smith & Nephew hip implants. There are thousands of you out there. I hope my website and my Blogs help people understand their situations better. Feel free to post public comments and questions, and I will respond publicly like I am today. Contact me privately if you don't have a lawyer by using my online Hip Questionnaire, Contact Form, or Request for Free Consultation.
Good communication in an open forum like this will help everyone better understand these ongoing court battles. Good luck, and keep fighting!
Defective Products & Recalls, Smith & Nephew Metal Hip Implants
Smith & Nephew Hip Implant Plaintiffs Need to Look Before They Leap Into a Federal Court Slowdown
My law firm sues Smith & Nephew, its hip implant surgeons, and its sales reps when they put profits over patients. In fact, Smith & Nephew Metal on Metal hip implant injuries are the only cases my firm is working on these days.
Our emphasis is always the same: try to get the best result possible in the least amount of time possible. That is always the goal, for the good of the client. But today, in Federal Court, it became crystal clear that Smith & Nephew does not now, nor has it ever, put its patients first.
This highly profitable Trans-Atlantic corporation is avoiding the courtroom, thus their responsibility, throughout the United States. This is despite selling tens of thousands of unapproved hip implants to American consumers! The corporation took advantage of our regulatory system, and now it is doing everything it can to deny justice to those injured by its negligence and greed.
This blog only addresses the Smith Nephew hip cases where a "total hip replacement" occurred. It does not apply to the "Birmingham Hip Resurfacing" cases.
The Federal Court Slow Down.
I have explained previously that there are generally only two types of products liability cases in America: (1) those filed in Federal Court and (2) those filed in State Court. For the benefit of our clients, my firm has closely monitored both for years.
A Federal Court pleading filed today indicated that there are 638 Smith & Nephew cases in the Federal Court system and only twelve cases filed against it in the state court system – that includes all fifty states and U.S. Territories. That means that roughly one in fifty Smith & Nephew hip implant cases are filed in state court. Is that a good thing for the patient with a bad hip? In my opinion, it is not. Can you do something about it if you have a bad Smith & Nephew hip? Yes. Let me explain.
Many of the potential Smith & Nephew hip implant cases have the potential to be very strong. Yet new cases are filed weekly that do NOT include everyone who should be sued. This is a mistake.
There are two major reasons. First, the company's very predictable strategy is to improperly divert the state cases to Federal Court. Why? Because this benefits the company, and that is good enough for me to want a state court venue whenever possible. And secondly, many of the surgeons knew that the implants were not approved for the surgery they performed. In fact, the only way to qualify for the Federal consolidated litigation is to have an unapproved combination of parts.
"The State Court Option" for Smith & Nephew THR cases.
Most of the hip implant lawsuits filed against Smith & Nephew are NOT filed against the implanting surgeon. Even fewer involve a lawsuit against the aggressive and often deceptive sales rep, who likely encouraged the use of the implant. I usually advise my clients to sue the surgeon if he or she knew the implants were not FDA-cleared for the surgery in question. Same thing goes for the sales rep. He (or she) definitely knew; demand accountability.
I frequently receive emails or phone calls from people wanting to know why their case is taking so long. From my perspective, it is usually easy to see what the problem is and why they are having delays. It is usually because the case was filed in the slow-moving "Multi-District Litigation" ("MDL") that is pending in Federal Court in Baltimore, Maryland. At last count (yesterday), there were 638 cases filed in the MDL, and predictions are that the number will rise to over 800 before the end of the year. New cases filed into the MDL are generally put into line behind all the older, previously-filed ones. Worse, the THR cases are filed into a separate line that are moving at an even slower pace than the BHRs.
Failure to sue the Surgeon or Sales Rep will haunt you in years to come.
But it isn't just the snail's pace of the MDL that makes the state court option a preferred strategy. THR cases ALL involve a situation where the implanting surgeon and the commission-based company salesmen had to have known its FDA status. After waiting years to get your case teed up for trial in Federal Court, you have your day only to realize that two of the three responsible entities were not even sued!
Your THR case against Smith & Nephew always involves the following set of indisputable facts:
Company Warned. The company instructed your doctor in writing that the combination was not approved by the FDA. In five years, every case I've seen has involved that warning.
Sales Rep Knew. The sales rep knew its FDA status before the device was implanted in you. He or she also knew there were alternative products that were FDA approved.
Surgeon Should have known. There was nothing secretive or mysterious about the THR device implanted inside of you. Its packaging clearly informed the surgeon that the parts were not approved for a THR. The writings that were inside the clearly marked boxes provided this same information. What was your surgeon thinking, you may wonder? Well, do you really want to wait a few years to find out?
LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP INTO FEDERAL COURT.
New cases continue to be filed incorrectly alleging that Smith & Nephew kept surgeons in the dark about unapproved hip implants. This dilutes the strength of the products liability cases nationwide and is not supported by the facts. The surgeons knew. They were warned at various points along the way, and if they did not know, they were careless. Either way, you deserve to ask what happened. Why did the sales rep put profits over your health? Why did the doctor implant an unapproved device and ignore written warnings?
Look Before You Leap into a Federal Court Slowdown.
Kip Petroff received his law degree from Notre Dame Law School in 1983 and has achieved courtroom success in many areas of complex personal injury litigation over the past 30+ years. This experience includes jury verdicts involving medical devices, prescription medicines, medical biologics, aviation, and medical malpractice. Kip has obtained jury verdicts for numerous victims of "mass torts" since the 1980's.
All questions about new Smith & Nephew metal hip implant cases should be directed to Kip Petroff; please fill out the convenient online contact form.
He also wrote a book about mass torts: Battling Goliath: Inside a $22 Billion Legal Scandal. Go to www.BattlingGoliath.com for more information.
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Defective Products & Recalls
Smith & Nephew Metal Hip Implants
Metal Hip Implants MOM Hip Implants
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Smith & Nephew Hip Implant Legal Information Page
Smith & Nephew Hip Cases Offer State Court Options August 28, 2019
Smith & Nephew Hip Cases: Time to Bring Your Cases Home August 27, 2019
Response to Public Posting on KP Web Page – Smith & Nephew Hip Implant Victims Face More Delays as Frustration Increases. May 29, 2019
Smith & Nephew Hip Implant Plaintiffs Need to Look Before They Leap Into a Federal Court Slowdown May 14, 2019
Kip A. Petroff
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