Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay almost $1 billion to resolve the majority of the outstanding lawsuits that claim that its Pinnacle hip implants were defective according to a report by Bloomberg.
JNJ to Pay Almost $1 Billion to Settle Hip Lawsuits
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This settlement was originally announced in February by plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Lanier after a jury was empaneled to hear the latest Pinnacle lawsuit. The case was a consolidated lawsuit that was brought by five Pinnacle hip implant recipients in Texas. In Re DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, 11-md-2244, U.S District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas).
This settlement resolves more than 95% of the 6,000 lawsuits where surgeons extracted the Pinnacle implants because of defects that left patients unable to walk and in pain. The $1 billion total includes a prior settlement for more than $400 million. There are still almost 4,500 pending lawsuits by patients whose hip implants were not 100% metal or have not yet been surgically removed.
JNJ pulled Pinnacle’s metal-on-metal hip implant off the market in 2013 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration toughened regulations on these devices. Pinnacle hips made from different materials continue to be sold in the U.S. today.
The settlements are not being handled by a global settlement program. Instead, JNJ is resolving each individual attorney’s Pinnacle cases for a set amount and allowing the attorneys to divide those amounts among their clients. The more seriously injured patients will be paid higher settlement amounts.
Mindy Tinsley, spokeswoman for JNJ, released a statement saying that settlement negotiations for the Pinnacle lawsuits are continuing and that Johnson & Johnson has set aside funds for the litigation.
For additional OTW’s coverage of the Johnson & Johnson/DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuit, see:
- Final Nail in JNJ’s $1.7 Billion Pinnacle Hip Lawsuit?
- DePuy Settles Hip Implant Suit for $120 Million
- $400 Million Settlement Reported in Johnson & Johnson Hip Lawsuits
- DePuy’s Pinnacle Metal-on-Metal False Claims Suit Revived
- Johnson & Johnson Cleared of Witness Tampering in Pinnacle Case
- Patients Win 3rd Pinnacle Hip Lawsuit in a Row
- $1 Billion Jury Award in 3rd Pinnacle Trial
- DePuy Scores Big Pinnacle Court Victory
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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