Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopaedics unit are about to resolve a large number of lawsuits targeted at their metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implants.
Plaintiff lawyer Mark Lanier told that the consumers and the company had agreed on a settlement term to resolve the long-running hip implant litigation which holds more than 10,000 lawsuits. Though the settlement plan has not reached the final stage, it can be expected by the end of this year. Last month, J&J agreed to settle deceptive marketing claims filed by 46 U.S. states over the defective nature of the implants. The defendants denied admitting liability of misconduct linked to the claims filed. Metal-on-metal hip implants were reported to cause a build-up of metal ions in the blood resulting in groin pain, allergic reactions, and tissue death. The settlement talks caused a federal jury overlooking the case of five Texas plaintiffs, to dismiss the jury in the ongoing trial.
More than 10,400 Pinnacle hip implant lawsuits are consolidated as a part of multidistrict litigation (MDL 3:11-MD-02244, In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation) overlooked by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade since 2011 in the Northern District of Texas. Similar lawsuits are filed against other hip device manufacturers in the U.S. involving defendants Zimmer, Stryker, Biomet, Wright, and Smith & Nephew.
