Johnson & Johnson Faces Thousands of Lawsuits


During the first settlements for the case against Johnson & Johnson, who face over 8,000 lawsuits for recalled hip implants, they paid around $600,000 to resolve those cases. Another case involving a Nevada resident who sued the company was settled recently and the company will pay $200,000 for that case. They negotiated at a “low end” according to a business professor, who said they should be expected to pay more, up to $500,000 per case. The company recalled nearly 93,000 hip implants because around 12% were failing during the first five years, resulting in pain for many customers who faced surgery, infection, and dislocation.

Another patient claimed that metal debris harmed tissue and heightened metal ions in their bloodstream. The company is not saying whether they will settle more lawsuits. They face around 8,000 cases and a judge in Ohio is overseeing 6,000 lawsuits after getting cosolidated under one court There are also 2,000 cases filed in various courts throughout California, Maryland, and others. The first cases were settled in Las Vegas by three recipients who had one surgeon do all their hip surgeries. One patient experienced health issues due to metal in her bloodstream.  “Each of these plaintiffs has incurred a painful and debilitating hip-revision surgery as a result of the failure of their DePuy ASR Hip,” their lawyers stated. The company said they did not result in life-threatening injuries and they were generally healthy.

J&J said they spent $800 million on the recall, and they face a trial in Maryland involving three recipients, and this case will go to trial if they aren’t settled. The potential costs of the entire recall and liability may cost the company up to $2 billion once all lawsuits are resolved. “They’re looking at a giant number before it’s done because there are a giant number of cases,” Gordon said. The biggest benefit to J&J from the settlements that happened in Nevada is that the company “anchored settlement expectations at the low end of the range,” the business professor said. The Nevada cases are called Rundle v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., A-11-636272, Clark County District Court (Las Vegas), while the federal cases are  DePuy Orthopedics Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, 10-MD-2197, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (Toledo), according to news reports.

As a personal injury attorney, I look forward to hearing more about this cases and I hope you see a doctor immediately if you believe you may have a failed hip replacement.