201107.02
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New Zealanders Barred from Suing DePuy

New Zealand hip replacement patients, who have been implanted with the faulty DePuy ASR Hip Replacement Systems, have been told that they will not be allowed to join class action suits being filed against Johnson and Johnson in Australia and the USA due to laws governing compensation claims in New Zealand.

Under the Accident Compensation Act 2001, New Zealanders are not able to claim for pain and suffering in cases of this nature and, although able to sue for emotional trauma, are unlikely to get a fraction of the compensation potentially available elsewhere in the world.

James Elliott, an ex-lawyer and victim of a faulty DePuy ASR Hip Replacement System, had been in the progress of co-ordinating a group of 28 New Zealanders whose ASR hip system has had to be replaced with another product.

He claims that in a letter to him from Johnson and Johnson, he was advised that the Accident Compensation Commission bar would prevent him and others from suing the company and they offered him out-of-pocket expenses for any costs he had incurred during his hip replacement therapy.

Elliott will continue to fight for compensation for himself and his fellow victims. He said that a company the size of Johnson and Johnson should “step up and do the right thing”, claiming that it would be morally reprehensible if the company failed to offer reasonable compensation.