DePuy Faces Nearly $3 Billion in Metal-on-Metal Settlement

The potential size of the lawsuit settlement grows as the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary agrees to expand eligibility.

Chris Newmarker

Johnson & Johnson's  DePuy Orthopaedics subsidiary could end up paying another $420 million on top of the $2.5 billion it was already expected to pay to settle lawsuits related to ASR metal-on-metal hip implant products.

The settlement is now open to U.S. citizens or residents who had hip revision surgery over their ASR implants before the end of January 2015, according to a February 20 filing in U.S. District Court in Toledo. The settlement previously only covered those who had surgeries before August 31, 2013.

J&J is estimating that the extension of the settlement program will open it up to another 1400 people, on top of the 8000 who were already participating in the program, according to the company's most recent annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

With lawsuit settlements expected to reach up to $300,000 each, total payouts could expand $420 million--bringing the total size of the settlement near the $3 billion mark.

The settlement was announced in November 2013. DePuy recalled the ASR metal-on-metal hips in 2010.

First introduced in the late 1990s, all-metal implants were thought to be stronger than other types of implants with the exception of those made of ceramic, which are hard yet brittle.

It turned out, though, that the implants had serious issues. Undergoing wear and tear, the implants in some cases have released chromium and cobalt ions. These ions can seep into local tissue near the site of an implant, potentially destroying bone and muscle. If these ions manage to enter a patient's circulatory system, they can injure the kidneys, liver, spleen and lymph nodes before elimination from the body through urine.

The devices have tragically become a bonanza for lawsuit lawyers. Besides the ASR suits, Johnson & Johnson has also had to respond to a host of lawsuits related to DePuy's Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System used in hip replacement surgery.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

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