Federal Trial Against Johnson & Johnson Delayed
The first federal trial against Johnson and Johnson for its ASR hip implant was supposed to start on September 14, but U.S. District Judge David Katz has signed an order postponing it because of problems scheduling expert witnesses on both sides. Additionally, there have been problems with general pre-trial discovery because of the fact that this is a bellwether case in a massive multi-district litigation. A bellwether case may determine the direction in which future settlements with other plaintiffs go.
The trial should go to trial within 90 days.
The plaintiff in this case is Ann McCracken. The following are some details of her case:
- McCracken received the ASR hip implant in August of 2009
- McCracken had to undergo two revision surgeries: one in January of 2011 for device failure, and a second one in October of 2011 for continuing pain and complications from the hip implant
The following are some claims that McCracken is making:
- Defective design/Design flaws that caused pain, immobility, the need for revision surgeries, and the release of toxic metal ions into the body
- The implant was not reasonably safe, and even after the company discovered this, they failed to warn doctors and patient
- Negligence for failure to properly test safety before taking the implant to market
The importance of the McCracken case can be seen when one takes into account the fact that there are almost 8000 other cases pending against Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopaedics Unit in federal court, and over 3600 lawsuits pending in state court. Bloomberg has reported that there are rumors that Johnson & Johnson plans to settle for $3 billion globally.
Have you been injured by a DePuy ASR Implant? It is not too late to join the ongoing litigation, both to recover compensation to help pay for your medical treatment and injuries, and to hold the pharmaceutical companies responsible for putting out a defective product. Contact a hip implant attorney at Kirkendall Dwyer LLP today.
