Warsaw firm to settle thousands of implant lawsuits
Paul Wyche | The Journal
Gazette Published: May 31, 2014 3:00 a.m.
DePuy Orthopaedics, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, has waived its
“walk-away rights,” which means the Warsaw company agrees to pay more than $2.5
billion to settle thousands of hip implant lawsuits, court documents show.
Officials at the medical device company have
decided that enough
plaintiffs exist to proceed with the settlement, according to paperwork
filed last week with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
in Toledo.
“While Settlement Program enrollment forms are
still being processed, most (eligible) patients have opted into the program,”
court documents stated.
“The company is, therefore, moving forward before the June 1
decision deadline provided for in the Agreement. The exact timing and amount of
compensation will depend on a number of factors and circumstances specific to
each claim,” the documents continued.
“However, eligible patients with allowed claims
can expect payment now that there is certainty the program is moving forward,”
the court papers said.
In November, the parent company agreed to pay
plaintiffs who received the DePuy-made
ASR hip implants.
The settlement gives money to patients based on
several factors, including age, extent of injuries and whether they had to
replace the defective implant. That agreement set the base rate at $250,000 per patient.
The DePuy ASR recall was announced in August 2010 after post-market
data indicated that 12
percent to 13 percent of recipients required revision surgery within five years,
according to Bernstein Liebhard, a New York law firm offering free legal
evaluations to patients.
Attorneys with Bernstein Liebhard said that by the time the recall was
announced, nearly 100,000 people worldwide had received the devices.
Evidence revealed during DePuy ASR lawsuit trials indicated that the implant’s
actual failure rate may be closer to 5 percent.
Other circumstances could entitle plaintiffs to a
supplemental award if, for example, they required multiple revision surgeries, or if they experience
“certain extraordinary injuries” in the future, attorneys said.
“DePuy remains committed to the well-being of ASR
patients, as demonstrated by the worldwide voluntary recall and the global
Broadspire program providing support for recall-related care,” said Mindy
Tinsley, a DePuy spokeswoman, in an email Friday.
Broadspire is an independent, third-party claims
processor available to patients not eligible for the U.S. Settlement Program,
DePuy said.
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