Slow and steady seems to be the name of the game in the main personal injury lawsuit against DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of New Jersey company Johnson & Johnson, over its faulty artificial hip replacement products.
About 3,500 plaintiffs have reportedly joined in on the multidistrict litigation (MDL) against DePuy, which will be heard in federal court in Ohio. MDL consolidation is generally used to expedite the legal process when there are multiple similar products liability or other personal injury claims filed against a defendant. In an MDL, the pre-trial proceedings are consolidated in order to speed up the discovery process.
Earlier this month, the federal judge overseeing the consolidation of about 3,500 of the DePuy products liability lawsuits announced that the bellwether trials would soon begin in the case. The purpose of bellwether proceedings is to try cases that are considered representative of a large number of claims in order to see how the cases will most likely go.
Now, the lead attorneys for each side have until the end of this month to submit a joint proposal of competing bellwether trial selection protocols. Early next month, the judge will hold another conference to determine and announce the status of the case at that time.
The first lawsuit was filed against DePuy in June 2010. Since then, more than 5,000 people in the U.S. and around the world have sued over the faulty hip replacement products.
If you have been injured by a recalled hip replacement product or other medical device, please contact Breslin & Breslin for a free initial consultation.
Source: drugwatch.com, “DePuy Hip Replacement Lawsuit MDL Nears First Trial,” Linda Grayling, April 18, 2012
