DePuy’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, has announced that it will enter into a $2.475 billion DePuy hip settlement agreement with plaintiffs in MDL 2197. The DePuy hip settlement covers patients who have undergone a revision surgery as of August 31, 2013. Individuals who have not undergone a revision as of August 31, 2013, still have legal rights available to them and should contact our firm to discuss them.

"DePuy Orthopaedics Hips. Real Life Tested"

Those words still appear on a website maintained by the company (play the videos at the bottom or click on “read transcript”). Of course, these are about the newer Pinnacle hip device, not the ASR that so far has cost the company $8.3 million in a single lawsuit – with approximately 10,000 more cases lined up right behind it.

In a recent news article, Gregory Demske, assistant inspector general for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reported that the four largest manufacturers of hip replacements – all of which are facing legal action – paid “physician consultants” $800 million between 2002 and 2006.  As defects in these designs became apparent and evidence surfaced to indicate that these companies were aware of the problems, these companies came under increasing scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ).

A California Jury returned an $8.3 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson and DePuy in the first trial regarding a plaintiff who was implanted with the recalled DePuy ASR hip implant.  Over 10,000 plaintiffs across the United States have filed similar lawsuits against DePuy, and many of those plaintiffs required a revision to remove the recalled DePuy ASR hip implant.  Often times, these plaintiffs had elevated levels of cobalt and chromium ions