The Kransky v. DePuy trial continued on Monday, February 25, 2013 with the Defendants calling to the stand Dr. Av Edidin. Mr. Zellers conducted the direct examination and Mr. Kelly cross-examined Dr. Edidin.
Dr. Edidin testified as an expert in the science and engineering of orthopedic medical devices, specifically the kinds of devices that help people get motion back when there has been an injury in the joints. Dr. Edidin essentially opined that the way in which Mr. Kransky’s implant was positioned, the implant’s particular conditions, and the way Mr. Kransky walked, caused a certain degree of wear to occur. He further testified that this degree of wear was in keeping with what he would expect to see on an implant that was put in and was used in such a manner. Finally, he testified that he believed the research, investigation, testing, and manufacturing of the ASR device was to a very high standard.
On cross-examination Mr. Kelly questioned Dr. Edidin’s testimony that he believed the ASR was not defective. Mr. Kelly asked about Plaintiff’s own expert, Dr. Bobyn, who Dr. Edidin agreed was an expert in his field and highly regarded. Mr. Kelly then asked Dr. Edidin whether the people likely most qualified to know about the design and efficacy of an implant were those people who actually designed the product, those people within DePuy. Dr. Edidin agreed. Mr. Kelly then pointed out that DePuy themselves admitted the product was defective, that those within the highest management level signed off on the fact that the ASR was defective. It was also clarified that Dr. Edidin had spent a great deal of his career on spines, not hips. Ultimately, Dr. Edidin would not answer whether he could explain why a device he deemed not defective had caused roughly 8,000 premature revisions. Revisions are considered “injuries” by the very company selling the product.
Following the lunch recess, Mr. Calfo conducted the direct examination of Dr. Gonzalo Ballon-Landa for the Defendants. Dr. Ballon-Landa is an infectious diseases doctor. As a defense expert, he testified that he believed Mr. Kransky had an infection of his ASR hip, that his hip caused him pain, that the pain he had was stemming from the infection and that the infection was the reason why he had to have it taken out. Defendants have claimed infection as a defense to their liability.
The day concluded with Dr. Ballon-Landa, to be resumed tomorrow.