J&J unit to pay $2.5 billion in U.S. hip implant settlement
Source: Reuters
NEW YORK Tue Nov 19, 2013 5:37pm EST
(Reuters) - A unit of Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay an estimated $2.5 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits from individuals allegedly injured by the company's artificial hip implants, the company announced Tuesday.
The settlement, announced during a hearing in federal court in Ohio on Tuesday, would compensate an estimated 8,000 patients who underwent surgery to replace their hip implants, according to a statement from Johnson & Johnson unit Depuy Orthopaedics Inc and lawyers for the plaintiffs.
The company was defending more than 12,000 lawsuits in state and federal court over injuries allegedly caused by its metal-on-metal ASR hip-replacement systems, according to a regulatory filing.
Depuy recalled the ASR hip system in 2010, after data suggested that it failed at a higher-than-expected rate. At the time, the company had sold about 93,000 systems worldwide.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/19/us-jj-hips-settlement-idUSBRE9AI1A820131119