Individuals across the country who received faulty DePuy ASR hip implants will begin receiving payments in the next few months under the terms of a settlement agreement to resolve over 12,000 lawsuits.
Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopaedics subsidiary reached an agreement in November 2013, agreeing to pay at least $2.4 billion to resolve claims, but reports have suggested that hte total benefits that may be available could reach as high as $4 billion after accounting for medical expense reimbursements and other costs.
In addition to resolving injury claims filed by individuals, DePuy is also attempting to resolve medical reimbursement lawsuits filed by states who say that the medical device manufacturer defrauded their Medicare and Medicaid programs by selling a defective product.
A DePuy ASR metal-on-metal hip replacement system recall was announced in August 2010, after data suggested that about one out of every eight would fail within five years. However, more recent data has suggested that the DePuy hip failure rate may ultimately be substantially higher, likely ending up in the 35% to 45% range.
Prior to the settlement agreement being reached, only two DePuy ASR cases made it to trial nationwide, with a jury award of $8.3 million.
