Johnson & Johnson Faces Another Hip Replacement Lawsuit

New Brunswick, NJDays after a Texas jury awarded $1 billion to six patients in a hip replacement lawsuit, another lawsuit has been filed against Johnson & Johnson. The pharmaceutical company is not the only to face allegations of problems with its hip replacement devices, however. In addition to J&J subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics, Stryker and others face lawsuits alleging their products had an early failure rate and caused a host of issues, including metallosis.

In December 2016, a federal jury in Dallas ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $1 billion to six patients, who filed a lawsuit alleging they were harmed by the Pinnacle hip implants. And although DePuy has said it will appeal the massive award, other plaintiffs are now coming forward, claiming they were also harmed by the use of the device.

According to NJ.com (12/28/16), an Indiana man filed a lawsuit in New Jersey, claiming he has suffered from "constant debilitating pain and instability" and had to undergo a total hip replacement in 2014 to fix issues with the hip implant. A spokesperson for DePuy has said the company is committed to its patients and to ensuring those patients live active and comfortable lives.

Following the $1 billion award, a judge cut the amount in half, saying there were limits to how much plaintiffs can be awarded in punitive damages. As a result, the plaintiffs will receive around $500 million in punitive damages. But, CNBC (1/4/17) notes, the judge did not overturn the jury's findings that DePuy failed to warn patients about the risks of the hip devices. In 2013, DePuy stopped selling the Pinnacle devices.

DePuy currently faces around 8,750 lawsuits consolidated for pretrial proceedings in MDL 224 and another 1,480 lawsuits filed for pretrial proceedings in MDL 2197.

Meanwhile, Stryker has expanded its settlement to include patients who received the Stryker ABG II Modular Neck Hip Stem and the Rejuvenate Modular Neck Hip Stem and had revision surgery between 2014 and December 19, 2016. An initial settlement, worth around $1 billion, was reached in 2014 but only included patients who had both their implant and the revision surgery by before November 3, 2014.

Revision surgery is done to repair or remove faulty or malfunctioning implants. It is often more complex than the initial surgery and comes with longer recovery times and increased surgical risks.

Settlement values in the Stryker litigation are believed to start at $300,000 but patients who underwent more than one revision surgery or suffered complications and needed additional medical treatment could receive a higher amount. Around 1,800 lawsuits have been consolidated for pretrial proceedings in MDL 2441.

Stryker now also faces claims concerning its hip implant component, the LFIT V40 femoral head. Among concerns about the LFIT femoral head are a risk of spontaneous dislocation of the femoral head.