A class action settlement has been approved by a judge in Australian Federal court which will allow compensation payments payment for faulty DePuy knee replacements to commence.
The legal action began in March 2010 after the worldwide recall of the DePuy LCS Duofix Femoral knee replacement in July 2009. The recall was distributed after a higher rate of error than anticipated was identified after the knee replacements were used in operations – the suspected cause of this being Alumina particles in the implant.
According to the terms of the settlement, DePuy are to pay A$30,000 to claimants who had one revision to the faulty knee implant but required no second or subsequent surgery. People claiming for compensation who needed two or more surgical procedures following the initial revision surgery are to be awarded A$65,000 compensation for faulty DePuy implants, and claimants who have experienced severe complications or loss of amenity will have their compensation claims for faulty DePuy knee implants assessed on an individual basis.
Justice Robert Buchanan approved the agreement in the class action case – which had been agreed upon at in August in the Pamela Joan Casey v. DePuy International Ltd class action lead case – after looking into 430 inquiries into the proposed settlement. Remarking in his closing comments on the case he said that none of the inquiries gave him cause not to approve the compensation payments for DePuy faulty knee replacements to begin.
