Elder Law

Illinois DePuy Lawsuits Likely Involved in Nearly $1 Billion in Projected Settlements

By Levin & Perconti

About Lawsuits reported on the latest developments related to the DePuy hip recall lawsuits. Johnson & Johnson, the company that owns the orthopedic business that created the defective hips, recently released financial information that sets aside money it expects to pay because of the problematic medical devices.

Specifically, the business set aside nearly $1 billion to cover costs related to the defective hip implants. It is yet unclear what percentage of that figure is expected to be spent on litigation defense, payouts to victims and other costs.

Experts admit that the overall total cost to the business will rise well above $1billion. Frequent blog readers are aware of the growing number of lawsuits filed on behalf of the many victims (including Illinois nursing home residents). Thousands of lawsuits are expected to be filed, with more victims stepping forward every day. Many of these victims have suffered a variety of severe complications because of their receipt of hip implants that failed at an unacceptable rate.

Initially the fail rate was revealed to be a high 12-13% of all implants. The continued monitoring of patients has led many doctors to believe the total fail rate will ultimately prove to be much higher.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on February 02, 2011 (boomark / email).