Multiple news sources are reporting that persons closely familiar with the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) DePuy ASR hip implant litigation say that the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant has reached settlements with three plaintiffs in the first product liability lawsuits slated for trial in state court.
As this blog has informed readers in previous posts, J&J is under a veritable onslaught of lawsuits in both federal and state courts, with thousands of plaintiffs alleging wide-ranging harms resulting from the implants. Approximately 6,000 defective product cases have been consolidated for pretrial hearings and evidence gathering in federal court in Ohio. The remainder thus far — some 2,000-plus complaints — have been filed in myriad state courts across the country.
The reports now surfacing concerning the three plaintiffs relate to case filings in a Nevada state court. The plaintiffs’ actions were consolidated and set for trial later this year, but case insiders now say that J&J has agreed to pay about $600,000 to resolve all three cases.
One business professor and commentator on the pharmaceutical industry terms that settlement amount “at the low end of what the company should have expected.”
Whether it is a harbinger of what might reasonably be expected in the future is far from clear, given the great amount of uncertainty associated with many aspects of the litigation. As noted, cases are scheduled to be heard in courts from California to Maryland, and a number of litigants might choose to resolutely push on with a trial in lieu of settling their cases.
Maryland is in fact the venue for the next round of state-court cases set for trial. If those actions do not settle, trial will commence in January of next year. The first federal trial is slated to begin sometime next spring.
If you or a family member has been injured as the result of using a DePuy ASR hip implant, please contact Breslin & Breslin for a free consultation.
Source: Bloomberg , “J&J said to pay $600,000 to settle first suits over hips,” Jef Feeley and David Voreacos, Aug. 21, 2012
- Our firm provides diligent and focused representation to persons who have suffered personal injuries from defective products entailing product liability concerns such as those described in this post. To learn more about our firm and practice, we invite you to visit our Bergen County, New Jersey, Products Liability page.
