J&J To Pay Up To $4 Billion To Settle Hip Replacement Suits

Johnson & Johnson announced this week that it has agreed to pay billions of dollars to patients harmed in the recall of its metal ball-in-socket artificial hips. 

Under the proposed settlement, the company would pay at least $2.47 billion — and up to $4 billion — to resolve around 8,000 U.S. lawsuits, according to Bloomberg. This marks one of the largest settlements ever for the medical device industry, the Associated Press reported.

Patients had already undergone surgery when it came to light that the product, manufactured by the company's DePuy unit, was defective. 

“J&J will provide a base award of $250,000 to U.S. citizens and residents who were implanted in the U.S. or at a U.S. military hospital with an ASR XL or ASR resurfacing device, and who underwent surgical revision (removal and replace of the faulty hip implant) of the DePuy device more than 180 days after implantation and before August 31, 2013,” according to injury attorney Wendy Fleishman in an analysis. 

It remains uncertain whether the proposed settlement will be accepted. The deal “must receive the support of 94 percent of eligible claimants to go forward. Whether it will reach that goal is unclear,” the New York Times reported.  Some patients may seek more money. 

Problems with the hip product started years ago. “DePuy recalled the ASR hip system in 2010, after data suggested that it failed at a higher-than-expected rate. At the time, the company had sold about 93,000 systems worldwide,” according to Reuters. 

When J&J began selling the implants in the U.S. eight years ago, it said they would provide patients with a greater range of motion than other products.

“As failures mounted, patients complained in lawsuits that the metal-on-metal implant caused dislocations, pain, and follow-up surgeries known as revisions. They claimed that debris from the chromium and cobalt device caused tissue death and increased metal ions in the bloodstream,” Bloomberg reported. 

For many, the problem cut into years of their lives. 

“Some patients, many of whom suffered severe pain and injury from metallic debris generated by the device, spent years trying to convince doctors that there was a problem while Johnson & Johnson was denying one,” the New York Times said. 

J&J has faced major legal costs this month. It agreed to pay $2.2 billion “to resolve civil and criminal allegations involving the marketing of off-label, unapproved uses for three prescription drugs,” Justice Department officials announced this month, according to the Washington Post.