Jury Agrees Design Was Defective, Rejects Claim of Failure to Warn
HOUSTON, TX—A Los Angeles jury awarded Loren Kransky, a 65-year old retired prison guard from Montana, $8.3 million dollars today for the damages he suffered from a defective hip implant. The implant was manufactured by DePuy Orthopedics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The device, anASR XL metal-on-metal hip implant, was recalled by DePuy in 2010 after a significant number of implant recipients suffered early device failure and metal toxicity. It is estimated that over 90,000 of the recalled devices were implanted worldwide.While the metal-on-metal implants were expected to last from 10-20 years, one in eight recipients of the DePuy ASR implant required replacement surgery within five years.
The jury in this case agreed the design of the ASR was defective and was responsible for the metal poisoning and other health problems Kransky suffered following his 2007 implant surgery. They rejected the claims that the company acted with malice and that DePuy failed to warn recipients of the potential risks of the ASR, thereforeKransky will not be able to collect punitive damages.
While Johnson & Johnson set aside a reported $1 billion dollars to cover the costs of these lawsuits, that number may not be realistic in light of today’s verdict. Kransky’s victory will set the tone for the thousands of lawsuits to come and today’s outcome tells J & J and DePuy that the injuries suffered from the ASR are severe.
During the trial, attorneys for Johnson & Johnson stated Kransky’s pre-existing health issues such as diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, vascular disease and a history of smoking were responsible for his health problems rather than the hip implant. A spokeswoman for DePuy, Loire Gawreluk, stated the company will appeal the verdict and that “we believe the ASR XL was properly designed.” Gawreluk stated one reason for the appeal is that jurors were not allowed to hear testimony concerning the FDA’s review and clearance of the device.
Kransky’s attorneys argued to the contrary, stating that DePuy was well aware of the design deficiencies long before Mr. Kransky’s implant surgery and showed little regard for patient safety. Mr. Kransky testified that the implant had caused a stabbing, debilitating pain which forced him to use a wheelchair. Kransky’s daughter testified that she felt her father was being poisoned by the implant. After a trial that lasted nearly five weeks, Kransky’s attorney Michael Kelly stated in closing arguments “This is not an imperfect hip, this is a public health disaster.” Kransky’s attorneys also stated during the trial that DePuy deliberately buried surgeon complaints of mounting failures and studied a redesign of the ASR before scrapping it in 2008.
All eyes were on this first trial, as there are nearly 11,000 similar cases awaiting trial. The metal parts of the implants rub against one another causing metal ions to shear away and lodge in surrounding tissues or enter the bloodstream. The health issues from this ion shear are numerous and severe.Brian Panish, one of Kransky’s lawyers, stated, “This is the first day of reckoning for DePuy. We’ve learned a lot from this trial. We’ll get punitive damages in the next trial.” Despitethe ongoing ASR trials and over 30 product recalls since 2009, Johnson & Johnson stock rose 40 cents today.
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