In January of this year a class-action lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson began. The lawsuit revolved around the company’s 2010 recall of hip replacements and whether Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics knew that the devices could release small bits of metal particles into the bodies of patients.
Johnson & Johnson this week announced that it has agreed to a settlement with lawyers representing the more than 8,000 patients involved in the lawsuit. Johnson & Johnson and DePuy will compensate patients who received the ASR hip implants and later had to undergo surgery to have them replaced.
The total payout from Johnson & Johnson could top $2.5 billion if all patients eligible for the settlement claim their stake. This is in addition to a program Johnson & Johnson had set up after the recall to reimburse patients who later had to undergo surgery to correct their implants.
We are committed to the well-being of ASR patients, as demonstrated by the voluntary recall and the program providing support for recall-related care,” said Andrew Ekdahl, worldwide president of Joint Reconstruction at DePuy. “The U.S. settlement program provides compensation for eligible patients without the delay and uncertainty of protracted litigation. DePuy remains committed to our purpose of advancing innovative treatment options to serve those who need joint replacement surgery.”
This settlement comes just weeks after Johnson & Johnson was fined billions over the misbranding of the drug Risperdal. The company’s subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals plead guilty to marketing the drug for the relief of agitation caused by elderly dementia, which the drug is not approved for by the FDA.