Faraci Lange attorney Brian M. Zorn has been named the Medical Malpractice Lawyer of the Year in Rochester, N.Y., according to the 2011 edition of Best Lawyers in America^®.

Zorn, a partner with Faraci Lange LLP, was recognized for receiving high ratings in Best Lawyers’ surveys, earning a high level of respect among his peers for his abilities, professionalism and integrity.

Named to Best Lawyers since 1995, Zorn focuses his practice on medical malpractice law, personal injury litigation and product liability litigation. He is a Victor, N.Y. resident.

Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, is based on an exhaustive annual survey in which more than 39,000 leading attorneys cast more than 3.1 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.

After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating Lawyers of the Year in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the Lawyer of the Year.

In December 2009, DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson Company, began to withdraw its ASR^TM XL Acetabular System/DePuy ASR^TM Hip Resurfacing System from the market claiming that the withdrawal was due to declining demand. However, the truth about the withdrawal and the company’s knowledge of the defectiveness of its product years earlier slowly began to emerge despite the company’s efforts to withhold the information. In March 2010, DePuy sent a letter to doctors warning them that the ASR devices, which are metal-on-metal, appear to have higher rates of early failure than other hip implant devices. The company indicated that the device had a higher failure rate in certain patients, specifically shorter patients, women, and patients with certain bone weaknesses.  

The New York Times reported that by 2008 the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) had received more than 300 complaints from people who were implanted with the ASR devices. The vast majority of the complaints came from patients who were forced to undergo revision surgery within just a few years of having the ASR device implanted. On average, patients who undergo hip replacement with a non-ASR device can expect their hip implants to last for at least 15 years. More…