It is reported that health care giant Johnson & Johnson, who are facing about 11,500 lawsuits over it’s controversial metal-on-metal hip devices, are in talks to pay in excess of $3 billion to settle the litigation.
The drug maker is looking to pay more than $300,000 each per case which would amount to more than $3 billion if most of the plaintiffs accepted the terms. This figure is more than 50% greater than the amount discussed previously.
The largest prior settlement figure was in 2001 which involved Sulzer AG for $1 billion over its allegedly defective hip and knee devices. That settlement was the largest settlement involving hip devices.
Metal-on-metal hip implants have become the subject of safety concerns. These devices were approved using the fast-tracked 510 (K) approval route, which bypassed clinical testing in the United States. Studies have now revealed that metal hip replacements tend to fail more often than other hip implants.
In 2012 DePuy Orthopaedics recalled 93,000 ASR devices worldwide after it was found that 12% of the devices had failed within 5 years, a considerably high failure rate.
Metal-on-metal hip implants have long raised safety concerns in response to reports that the devices led to early failure and other complications by releasing metal ions into a patient’s blood stream and surrounding tissues. Hundreds of patients in Ireland have issued High Court Summonses claiming compensation and Moloney & Company Solicitors are acting on behalf of a number of those patients.
If you have received a metal-on-metal hip implant device and want to obtain advice concerning the DePuy recall please feel free to contact Liam Moloney Solicitor today on 045-898000 or simply email him at LiamMoloney@moloneysolicitors.ie.
