The Anapol Schwartz personal injury law firm has announced that a $2.5bn proposed settlement was submitted for the DePuy Orthopaedics Articular surface replacement (ASR) hip implant litigation in a Toledo, Ohio federal court.
The agreement will apply to all DePuy (Johnson & Johnson) ASR litigations in federal and state courts across the country.
The DePuy Orthopaedics settlement provides a $250,000 base award for about 8,000 patients who needed revision surgery after their ASR hip system failed.
In addition, all liens for medical treatment related to the failed hip will be paid by DePuy. A $475m fund will also be created to increase compensation for patients who suffered medical complications beyond revision surgery.
The proposed settlement must be approved by 94% of qualified plaintiffs to receive approval from federal Judge David A. Katz who is overseeing the settlement.
Anapol Schwartz partner Thomas Anapol said: "This proposed settlement is clearly a step in the right direction in holding this company accountable for the sale of a medical device that was never properly tested and failed miserably in thousands of unsuspecting patients."
DePuy recalled the ASR XL Acetabular hip system in 2010 - five years after it was first marketed in the US. The recall came in response to Australian National Joint Replacement Registry reports that found 7.8% of patients with an ASR total hip replacement and 10.9% of patients with the ASR resurfacing device needed revision surgery within five years of hip implantation.
British data showed an even higher revision rate, with 12% of patients with the ASR resurfacing device and 13% of patients with the ASR total hip replacement needing revision surgery within five years.
Patients with the ASR hip have suffered painful and disabling problems as a result of the cobalt and chromium components grinding together and shedding metal ions and debris into the body. The tiny fragments destroy tissue surrounding the hip over time and potentially cause heart problems, neurological changes, depression and renal function impairment.
This settlement covers patients who needed revision surgery as a result of a DePuy ASR hip system failure. Thousands of cases involving claimants with the ASR hip still in their bodies continue.
In addition, the company's Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip is also the subject of litigation for allegedly causing similar injuries, for which this settlement does not apply.
Other hip implant litigations are being pursued against Biomet, Wright Orthopedics, Smith & Nephew and Stryker Orthopedics; however, the results of this legal action should not be interpreted as a forecast for those matters which have substantially different legal claims.
