J&J has agreed to a settlement of up to $4 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits filed by patients injured by a recalled hip implant, according to a recent article by The New York Times. The plan represents one of the largest payouts for product liability claims involving a medical device. A spokeswoman for J&J’s DePuy Orthopaedics unit declined to comment on the settlement. The agreement will include those patients who have already had the device removed and replaced with another implant. Each patient would receive about $350,000 in compensation. That figure will vary depending on the patient’s age and medical condition. Under the plan, patients who have not received a replacement will not receive the compensation. The A.S.R. hip was sold by DePuy until mid-2010, when the company recalled it after receiving claims of early failure rates. The device, which had a metal ball and a metal cup, sheds metallic debris as it wears, generating particles that have damaged tissue in some patients or caused crippling injuries. May artificial hip implants last 15 years before they need to be replaced. In 2008, data showed that the A.S.R. hip was failing at high rates after just a few years. Approximately 93,000 patients received an A.S.R. 1/3 of them in the United States. If you or a loved one has experienced serious complications as a result of receiving a recalled medical device, contact Finkelstein & Partners for help.
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