Three DePuy revision surgery claims – intended to be the first cases to be heard by a jury relating to the recalled ASR hip replacements – have been settled out of court in Nevada.
The three plaintiffs – Annelise Rundle (74), Martha Bender (69) and Katherine Guy (60) from Las Vegas in Nevada – all required revision surgery after being recipients of failed DePuy ASR hip replacement systems in the past six years. It is reported that each has receive a settlement of approximately $200,000 – although this has not been confirmed by either the plaintiffs or by DePuy Orthopaedics Inc.
In their combined claim for DePuy revision surgery compensation, evidence had been made available to DePuy Orthopaedics Inc which revealed permanent bone damage caused by the devices and – in the case of Annelise Rundle – other health issues had developed which were attributable to the metal filings which had been displaced from the faulty hip replacement.
The settlement of the DePuy revision surgery claims came as no surprise as DePuy have a substantial number of claims scheduled against them and will wish to save the court costs of defending the claims made against the company or arguing for a limited assessment of damages. However, how much compensation for DePuy revision surgery was agreed upon has surprised some industry observers.
Professor Eric Gordon, a pharmaceutical industry expert from the University of Michigan, said “J&J [Johnson & Johnson – DePuy Orthopaedics´ parent company] should have expected to pay in the $200,000-to-$500,000 range per case” and he believes that the company will have been satisfied with the outcome of the DePuy revision surgery claims settlement, considering that there are more than 2,000 claims outstanding in the States of California, Maryland and Nevada, and 6,000 more consolidated into a Multi District Litigation (MDL) scheduled to commence in the spring of 2013.
Johnson and Johnson would not comment on whether they were intending to settle future DePuy revision surgery claims prior to other scheduled court hearings.
It may not be too late to initiate claims for DePuy revision surgery compensation in Ireland if you have undergone revision surgery within the past two years or suffered any form of injury due to the recalled DePuy ASR hip replacement systems. Call our 24-hour helpline for more information.