DePuy Hip Recall Leads to $922M Set-Aside for Settlements, Litigation Costs
Johnson & Johnson announced its fourth quarter earnings this week, which included a charge of $922 million to cover litigation costs and potential settlements associated with a DePuy hip recall issued last year.
Johnson & Johnson and their DePuy Orthopaedics subsidiary face a mounting number of lawsuits over DePuy ASR hip replacements, which have been linked to a higher-than-expected failure rate within a few years of implant, often requiring additional revision surgery.
According to an earnings statement released on Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson reported net earnings of $1.94 billion, which was a 12 percent drop from the previous year. The net earnings were greatly affected by the DePuy ASR hip recall litigation set aside of nearly $1 billion, which will cover some of the company’s anticipated DePuy hip settlement costs, litigation defense expenses and other costs associated with the DePuy hip recall.
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Learn MoreLast month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the DePuy hip recall lawsuits before U.S District Judge David A. Katz, and ordered that all cases filed in any federal district court be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio for pretrial proceedings.
Within weeks of the MDL being established, the number of DePuy hip recall lawsuits transferred to Judge Katz from federal district courts throughout the United States quickly grew to more than 100 cases. However, it is expected that thousands of cases will ultimately be involved in the litigation as DePuy hip recall lawyers continue to investigate and file new claims for individuals who received one of the defective implants.
It is expected that Johnson & Johnson will ultimately have to pay out much more than the $922 million it set aside this quarter to address claims filed by individuals who face a risk of DePuy hip complications.
More than 90,000 DePuy ASR XL Acetabular Systems and DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing Systems were sold before the hip replacements were recalled in August. The manufacturers have acknowledged that data so far has shown that about 12% to 13% of these hips will fail within five years. However, as individuals with one of the recalled hip replacements continue to be monitored by their doctors, it is expected that the DePuy ASR failure rate will ultimately be much higher.
In addition to the DePuy ASR lawsuits, Johnson & Johnson also faces potential lawsuits over DePuy Pinnacle hip replacements. Although a recall for this other hip replacement has not been issued, a handful of DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuits have already been filed by consumers who have experienced metallosis or other problems from the metal-on-metal hip replacement parts wearing down.
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9 Comments
times 2 the painOctober 14, 2011 at 2:35 pm
I had of these implants in on both sides. Both failed in 3 years! Had metalosis in both! Both where replaced prior to recall! I want JUSTICE! Having 4 hip replacements in less then 5 years I wish on no one person!
ann doyleJune 30, 2011 at 6:54 pm
since having bladder sling inserted, I have has nothing bu trouble. My incontinence has increased from dribbing toflopopding, withou no warning.
ChrisJune 30, 2011 at 2:29 am
Tom What makes me an expert, is the fact that I have lived this nightmare, and am fully aware of what is going on. We do not get our information from a few blogs. This is not discomfort that we deal with! It is an on going never ending onslaught. And we are looking for hope. This has been my life for the better part of 6 years, every second of every minute of every day we deal with this! So if we [Show More]Tom What makes me an expert, is the fact that I have lived this nightmare, and am fully aware of what is going on. We do not get our information from a few blogs. This is not discomfort that we deal with! It is an on going never ending onslaught. And we are looking for hope. This has been my life for the better part of 6 years, every second of every minute of every day we deal with this! So if we refer to kick backs or wrong doing on the part of those who should know better and could have even helped us avoid this, well I think we have earned the right! Do us a favor and stick to the facts and avoid your self rightious opinions.
BrewerFebruary 22, 2011 at 3:57 pm
As a recipiant of hip replacements which was one the best things ive done for my self untill I was experiancing great pain and during my yearly exam my surgeon xrayed the hip and notice a formation of like a round marble in the bone he said it was due to the plastic or metal debre settling in the bone from ware and use and need to be replaced, after this was done I have experianced much server pa[Show More]As a recipiant of hip replacements which was one the best things ive done for my self untill I was experiancing great pain and during my yearly exam my surgeon xrayed the hip and notice a formation of like a round marble in the bone he said it was due to the plastic or metal debre settling in the bone from ware and use and need to be replaced, after this was done I have experianced much server pain and serveal dislocations of my hips from just gettin out of chairs walking or just standing and turning to talk to some one, and I was told to start using a wheel chair so the bone wouldn't break or fracture which i started the lastest problem happened in june of 09 when i ended up toppling out of the chair dislocting thehip once again and needed to have the hip put back in, after several trys the my otho surgeon explained he couldn't pop it in he needed to due surgery to find out why it wouldn't go in the cup, when i came out of recovery my otho explained that for some reason the cup where the ball goes into was broken and debre wasn't allowing this to happen and need a full hip to be replaced. since this insadent im still in pain and use a wheel chair most of the time and the otho office wont provide me with any serail #s or the maker of any of problem hips that i had revison or replacement of. the morale of this problem is meany manufactures have QT problems and all otho patients should have there monthly biyearly and yearly hip surery reviews
NateFebruary 16, 2011 at 8:56 pm
"tom." I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just write you off as a shill for Depuy/J&J, which is pathetic. You are just trying to mitigate as best you can on some obscure website the obvious damages done to people like the person you just insulted on here, as well as people like me with the pinnacle who just came out of revision surgery after only 3 yrs with the original. I hav[Show More]"tom." I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just write you off as a shill for Depuy/J&J, which is pathetic. You are just trying to mitigate as best you can on some obscure website the obvious damages done to people like the person you just insulted on here, as well as people like me with the pinnacle who just came out of revision surgery after only 3 yrs with the original. I have all the symptoms and the poisonings and all the proof and the massive damages to my professional life;. Think you might want to rephrase your idiotic commentary?......and the horse you rode in on, jackass.
tomFebruary 14, 2011 at 9:02 pm
juergon. You are aware that if you search any manufacturers website that surgeons who use those implants in your area will show up. Also, they are typically in alaphabetical order so being first or last on the list isn't relavent. Your surgeon is also right that people with metal on metal implants regardless of manufacturer are prone to having elevated levels of "metal". In regards to the kick[Show More]juergon. You are aware that if you search any manufacturers website that surgeons who use those implants in your area will show up. Also, they are typically in alaphabetical order so being first or last on the list isn't relavent. Your surgeon is also right that people with metal on metal implants regardless of manufacturer are prone to having elevated levels of "metal". In regards to the kickbacks, you are aware that most of the large Orthopedic implant manufactures had to pay fines for this. This was not something isolated to just Depuy. Surgeons are extremely busy and it only makes sense that they are fairly reimbursed for their time and effort when they help develop new products. Also, you have to understand there is a large group of lawyers who look for any reason to sue surgeons and medical companies. Surgeons have to constantly worry about being sued for things that they have no control over. Money hungry lawyers and uninformed patients make this possible. You are right to be upset at the discomfort you are experiencing. It would probably help you to get your facts straight and speak to your surgeon in a different manner than your accusatory tone. You do not become an expert by reading a few blogs online.
JuergenJanuary 27, 2011 at 2:58 pm
I understand exactly what you are saying about the surgeons decisions to implant all these terrible asr and pinnacle hip devices into our bodies. But, as a victim of the DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal, I like to ask you if you would still trust your surgeon when his name pops up first on the official DePuy website when searching for a surgeon in your area? Sorry, I do not trust my surgeon anymore, [Show More]I understand exactly what you are saying about the surgeons decisions to implant all these terrible asr and pinnacle hip devices into our bodies. But, as a victim of the DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal, I like to ask you if you would still trust your surgeon when his name pops up first on the official DePuy website when searching for a surgeon in your area? Sorry, I do not trust my surgeon anymore, especially after he blamed all you lawyers for being -quote- “after the money of the big company” (Johnson&Johnson/DePuy). And he also said that every person with a metal-on-metal will have high levels of metals in the blood stream. Well, he doesn’t have to live with always present violent pain, loss of safe job, benefits, and health insurance. And by the way, even in 2009 and 2010 DePuy paid multi-millions of dollars of illegal kickbacks to surgeons. And that after they just had paid 84 million dollars to the U.S. Attorney General in order to avoid criminal charges. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that their U.K. sales executive was sent to a 1-year prison term because he bribed the Greek Government with 7. some million dollars so they would buy DePuy hip replacement devices. Actually, that offense made DePuy ranked in the Top 5 of last years top corporate bribery in the entire world. All we victims want is justice, get some pain free time back for the remainder of living here on earth (I haven’t slept for more than 2 hours in a row since surgery in December of 2008).
zenonJanuary 27, 2011 at 3:55 am
1/15/04 total r-hip Biomet M2a Metal-on-Metal cemented 38mm,,Rwvision on 8/18/05 because the cup came loose and rotated 90 degrees toward the ingrowing,,Biomet made a custom prosthesis and on the 8/18/05 revision they could not make it fit so I got USED 70MM Cup and now my right leg is longer than my left, ...The Cleveland Plain Dealer said that Mary Lou Retton is very happy with her new life and[Show More]1/15/04 total r-hip Biomet M2a Metal-on-Metal cemented 38mm,,Rwvision on 8/18/05 because the cup came loose and rotated 90 degrees toward the ingrowing,,Biomet made a custom prosthesis and on the 8/18/05 revision they could not make it fit so I got USED 70MM Cup and now my right leg is longer than my left, ...The Cleveland Plain Dealer said that Mary Lou Retton is very happy with her new life and new Biomet M2am Metal-on-Metal.. ........... Zenon
mildredJanuary 27, 2011 at 12:36 am
since my hip replacsment 2 yrs ago, i have this stiffness in my hip. i said something to my docter but he said that i dont get enough excrise. but i still hurt.