Plaintiffs in DePuy Pinnacle MDL Propose Initial Joint Trial for 6 Plaintiffs

DALLAS — Counsel for plaintiffs in the consolidated DePuy Pinnacle hip implant proceedings have proposed an initial trial of claims by six plaintiffs as “the most efficient use of time and resources.”

In response, however, DePuy termed the proposal prejudicial and “an end run around the bellwether process,” demonstrating plaintiffs’ fear that they won’t prevail in individual trials.

Those opposing views were the subject of a Sept. 10 conference on bellwether trials by federal Judge James “Ed” Kinkeade, who presides over the Pinnacle hip MDL and has scheduled trials to begin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District …