Monday, August 27, 2012

Johnson & Johnson Settles First Three DePuy Cases for over $600,000

Over 8,000 lawsuits have been filed against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, DePuy regarding the ASR metal-on-metal hip implant after it was found to have a much higher than normal failure rate as well as causing other health issues including metal toxicity. In many recipients the metal ball and cup rub against one another with such force that microscopic cobalt and chromium ions are released into the body. These metal shavings can lead to infection, joint inflammation, revision surgery and metal poisoning or toxicity in the body. While this particular DePuy hip implant was FDA approved in 2005, a mere three years later over 300 complaints had been received from recipients of the metal-on-metal implant.

Although there are multiple design flaws which recipients have had to contend with, in the end DePuy’s metal-on-metal hip implant simply had too many problems not to fail once implanted. Many victims of the DePuy hip implant have suffered high concentrations of metal in the bloodstream within months of their operation and have alleged in lawsuits that the warnings regarding the device were completely inadequate. In 2010 DePuy issued a worldwide, voluntary recall of the ASR metal-on-metal hip implant due to the propensity of the implant to loosen or detach as well as the adverse reactions by many patients to high levels of metal debris. Over 93,000 ASR metal-on-metal hip implants were recalled at this time, including 37,000 in the United States alone. When the recall was issued DePuy stated that more than twelve percent of the metal implants failed within the first five years although independent studies place that number as high as 50% at six years and 80% at eight years.

Just this month three lawsuits coming out of Nevada regarding the defective ASR implants have been resolved to the tune of approximately $200,000 each. The three lawsuits were scheduled to be in court later in 2012. These three Nevada cases came from three women, all over the age of 60, whose hip replacement surgeries were performed by the same surgeon during the past six years. Each woman was forced to have the DePuy hip implant removed after experiencing extreme levels of pain as well as other ill health effects. Revision surgery is considered to be extremely painful leading to weeks—if not months—of recuperation and time away from work. One of the three women also experienced significant bone damage as a result of the Depuy metal implant. In court filings for these three cases Johnson and Johnson countered that the metal hip implants did not cause any of the three women to develop life-threatening illnesses despite the necessity of debilitating hip replacement surgery.

Many of those who have followed DePuy’s metal hip implant debacle feel DePuy and Johnson and Johnson will likely settle the majority of the hip implant lawsuits rather than risk awards even higher than they would pay in settlement. The amounts of the three lawsuits settled are believed to be at the low end of what Johnson & Johnson might reasonably expect to pay per case. The “average” range per case is expected to be from $200,000 to $500,000, therefore from a financial standpoint J & J and DePuy would be better off to cut their losses and settle at the lower end of the spectrum.

Many of the patients currently suing J & J and DePuy are claiming the metal ions which shear off when the metal cup and ball rub against one another can not only cause the death of tissue surrounding the joint but may also lead to high levels of harmful metals in the bloodstream. Metal toxicity can lead to cardiovascular, renal neurological and thyroid issues and due to the lack of comprehensive studies on safe levels of cobalt and chromium nobody is sure of the long-term damage when metal ions migrate into the bloodstream.

A spokesman for Johnson & Johnson declined comment regarding the three recent settlements likely due to the more than 6,000 federal suits which have been consolidated for pretrial evidence gathering as well as the more than 2,000 cases filed in courts in California, Maryland, Nevada and other states. January, 2013 will see Johnson & Johnson facing three state court trials coming from Maryland—if these three cases are not settled prior to that date they will be the first to go to trial. The first federal trials are expected to take place in March or April and experts contend that resolving all DePuy litigation could cost Johnson & Johnson in the neighborhood of $2 billion dollars.

Author: Sullo & Sullo Attorneys

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