We’ve written in the past about hip replacement implant recalls and lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson. Recently one of Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary companies, DuPuy Orthopedics has been involved in a number of cases surrounding defective hip replacement implants.
These medical devices have been recalled due to the fact that they caused a number of complications in patients that received them. Patients reported symptoms such as pain, difficulty standing, limited mobility, loosening of the prosthetic joint, metal poisoning and hip replacement failure. Many of these patients required a second surgery to correct the first one.
It’s not uncommon for there to be complications when it comes to risky surgeries; however, the reason DuPuy is being held responsible is partly due to the fact that they did not conduct sufficient premarket testing. As a result they are currently embroiled in a series of bellweather trials to settle the claims.
The point of a bellweather trial is to address multiple claims over the same issue. The patients who experienced negative side effects from their DuPuy hip replacement implants were able to have their case heard through this bellweather trial. That way one judge could make a decision on a large number of cases, rather than having multiple judges view each case individually. This not only helps with the speed at which these cases are settled, but also with the consistency of the outcomes of these cases.
The third DuPuy Hip Replacement Implant Trial concluded at the end of 2016. As a result, Johnson & Johnson was forced to pay $1 billion in punitive damages on top of $32 million in compensation.
