Executive’s Involvement with Defective Hip Implant Questioned


A new executive was hired to lead Johnson & Johnson’s orthopedics division after the company’s artificial hip implants were recalled in an effort to help clear their image. However, the executive who was hired knew about the defects three years before the implants were recalled and supervised the introduction of the implant in the US. He was previously in a marketing role when the company proclaimed they would not inform officials outside the US about the refusal of sales of the hip inside the US. During the recent patient trial in the Los Angeles Superior Court, more information was revealed concerning the involvement of executive Andrew Ekdahl.

Over 10,000 lawsuits have been filed so far against DePuy Orthopaedics and their Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) device. Ekdahl’s involvement with the product leads to many suspicions the company will not be able to clear their image just yet. The videotape testimony of the executive was shown at the most recent testimony, and more execs will testify in the near future. When Ekdahl was questioned about why the implant was recalled, he stated that it did not meet the standards they wanted.

Despite Ekdahl’s claims the device was performing well, internal documents uncovered reveal that may not be true. A surgeon told a consultant for DePuy and marketing personnel that he was not certain about the safety of the cup component. Meanwhile, DePuy was promoting the device throughout the US.

DePuy began selling the device in 2003 outside the US, and two years later sold the ASR version in the US as a standard hip replacement. 93,000 patients had the device implanted, and it was predicted they would fail in 40% of patients within five years. The videotape testimoy of Ekdahl revealed he was receiving reports saying the device was failing early at higher rates within three years of being put in charge of the 2005 introduction of the ASR hip. He participated in a meeting that resolved to redesign the implant, but the redesign project was stopped because sales were too low. Surgeons complained about the product increasingly, and by 2009 an executive told Ekdahl that the problem was with its design.

In 2009, executives declared they would sell current inventories and phase out the products. The FDA requested safety data and told them it would not help sell the device due to concerns it released metal ions into patient’s bloodstreams. Ekdahl continued to oversee sales in Europe, according to news reports.