Artificial Hip Recipients' Lawyers Reject J & J Settlement Pay-off

Johnson & Johnson, which is  facing  more than 10,000 lawsuits over its recall ASR hip systems manufactured by its DePuy Orthopedic Unit, is  bargaining for a possible settlement with patients over more than $2 billion in payoff, legal experts say. The bumper-to-bumper lawsuits began after patients announced that they were suffering  from the defective implants and seeking compensatory damages. A DePuy director gave an internal report indicating nearly  40 percent ASR failure rate.

Considered the world’s biggest seller of health-care products, Johnson & Johnson is willing to pay more than $200,000  per case -- in deals that may reach more than  $2 billion if most plaintiffs accept the terms.  However, lawyers for hip recipients have been declining  the offer as being too low.

In 2010, Johnson & Johnson recalled 93,000 all-metal hips worldwide, including 37,000 in the United States, saying more than 12 percent failed within five years. Patients who sued contend that they suffer pain and are immobilized by joint dislocations, infections and bone fractures. They alleged metal debris from the hips causes tissue death around the joints.

The settlement talks probably might not end until after the first trials of the lawsuits begin, starting next week, with more set for next month and May.

According to John M. Fitzpatrick, a defense lawyer in Denver, Johnson and Johnson can not afford to defend these lawsuits case by case and it needs  to shut down. The only way they can do that is through a global settlement. Plaintiff’s lawyers know that. That’s why everybody has to push to see what they can get.

The company is currently facing 10,100 lawsuits over the hips through September, according to the November filing. Most pretrial collection of evidence has been consolidated in federal courts  in Toledo, Ohio, where 7,240 cases are pending, and California State Court in San Francisco, where more than 2,000 cases are filled.

Three of these cases set go on trial in the next few months may offer lawyers guidance on potential liability and damages. First case that went on trial was Loren Kransky's, a retired prison guard which has undergone a ASR XL hip implant in 2007.

Kransky accused DePuy Orthopeadics for endangering his  life with the implant which may possibly poisoned  him due to  the presence of metallosis. Toxic metal is produced when debris from the metal ball sliding against the metal cup caused metal ions to enter Kranky’s bloodstream. One of his doctors said the poison might kill him if no replacement surgery is performed in due time.

Johnson & Johnson is considered among the world’s biggest seller of health-care products which has caused DePuy ASR problems which is being recalled in 2010.

URL REFERENCES:

Bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-25/j-j-failed-to-warn-of-hip-implants-s-risks-jurors-told-1-,html

Bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-18/j-j-said-to-offer-implant-pact-that-may-reach-2-billion.html

DePuy Hip Recall Lawsuit Update: Both Sides Will Call Dozens of Witnesses in Los Angeles DePuy ASR Trial, Rottenstein Law Group Reports

Rottenstein Law Group previews the forthcoming DePuy ASR trial in Los Angeles, focusing on the witness lists of plaintiffs Sheryl and Loren Kransky and defendant DePuy Orthopaedics. 

(PRWEB) January 17, 2013

The Rottenstein Law Group, a DePuy ASR hip law firm, is closely monitoring developments in the run-up to the nation’s first trial of a DePuy ASR lawsuit, set to begin on Jan. 22 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Both the defendant, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy, and the plaintiffs, Loren and Sheryl Kransky, plan to call dozens of witnesses, according to court documents for the case (In re: Loren Kransky and Sheryl Kransky v. DePuy, Inc., et al., BC456086, Los Angeles Superior Court). Witnesses include several current and former DePuy employees, doctors, other experts and family members, besides the plaintiffs themselves.

“Because this is the first of possibly many DePuy ASR hip replacement trials, it is likely to be a good indicator of the type of defenses DePuy might assert in future trials,” said Rochelle Rottenstein, principal of the Rottenstein Law Group.

Read full story at PRWeb.com: DePuy Hip Recall Lawsuit Update: Both Sides Will Call Dozens of Witnesses in Los Angeles DePuy ASR Trial, Rottenstein Law Group Reports 

Rottenstein Law Group Reviews Court Records on Eve of Nation’s First DePuy ASR Hip Replacement Trial

The Rottenstein Law Group previews the first DePuy ASR hip replacement trial, which is set to begin on Jan. 22 in Los Angeles Superior Court. Loren and Sheryl Kransky of North Dakota allege serious side effects from the ASR, but DePuy denies their claims. 

(PRWEB) January 16, 2013

On the eve of the first DePuy ASR hip replacement trial on Jan. 22 in Los Angeles, Calif., the DePuy ASR recall attorneys at Rottenstein Law Group are reviewing court records that show how DePuy plans to defend itself against claims from Loren Kransky of North Dakota, who seeks monetary damages for side effects such as metal poisoning that he allegedly suffered as a result of the device.

Court records for the case (In re: Loren Kransky and Sheryl Kransky v. DePuy, Inc., et al BC456086, Los Angeles Superior Court) show that DePuy will argue that Kransky, 64, has a history of ailments not related to the DePuy ASR hip replacement that doctors installed in him in 2007. DePuy’s attorneys will highlight Kransky’s pre-existing conditions, in addition to arguing that he did not pursue the 2011 removal of his ASR and subsequent DePuy lawsuit until after he and his wife and co-plaintiff Sheryl Kransky read about the 2010 DePuy ASR recall online, “research that led them to unsubstantiated but sensational and alarming accounts of the dangers” of DePuy ASR hip replacement implants, according to the records.

Read full story at PRWeb.com: Rottenstein Law Group Reviews Court Records on Eve of Nation’s First DePuy ASR Hip Replacement Trial