Johnson & Johnson has begun to pay nearly $2.4 billion to settle the first round of claims brought by patients who received defective DePuy ASR hip implants. These payments will be dispersed over the next several months, reports the Legal Examiner.
The DePuy ASR metal-on-metal hip replacements were implanted in thousands of patients before Johnson & Johnson recalled them in August 2010. According to the medical reports, one in eight of the hips failed within five years due to a faulty metal-on-metal design. The design caused metallic debris to be released through continual grinding of metal parts during normal activity. This release, known as metallosis, leads to failure of the hip joint, which can be costly as well as painful for patients.
Once these hip implants began to fail, patients filed product liability claims against Johnson & Johnson, alleging that the hip design was defective and unreasonably dangerous. Two of these claims were tried, including one in California that led to an $8.3 million award for the plaintiff. Following these suits, Johnson & Johnson set up a global settlement for patients who received DePuy ASR hip implants. The company agreed to pay at least $2.4 billion in claims, though this number might go up as more hip implants continue to fail.
While 98.3 percent of those eligible for settlement have enrolled in the global settlement, other patients rejected the offer. These patients — as well as those who have not had to have their DuPuy ASR hip implant replaced prior to 2013 — can seek different avenues of legal redress, including filing a product liability suit against Johnson & Johnson.
If you live in North Carolina and have a DePuy ASR hip implant that failed, meet with a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer at the Lanier Law Group. You may have a number of different legal options, including seeking a settlement with Johnson & Johnson or filing a claim against the company.