Metal-on-Metal Hip Implant Patients Awarded $500 Million by Jury

On March 17, a Texas jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay approximately $500 million to five plaintiffs who had filed suit alleging they suffered injuries due to the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant. The implant, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy, has been linked to many different health complications. 

DePuy Metal-on-Metal Hip Implant Device Rulings

Not only did the jury find the design of the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant was defective, it also found that Johnson & Johnson and DePuy failed to properly inform the public about the risks. According to an article that appeared on the Fortune magazine website on March 17, the jury awarded approximately $140 million in compensatory damages and about another $360 million in punitive damages. Although the punitive damage award was subsequently reduced by the Court, this remains a huge win for the victims.

More than 8,000 lawsuits involving the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant have been consolidated in a federal court in Texas.

The plaintiffs in the case received the Pinnacle device and claimed that it failed faster than expected due to design flaws. They have alleged that they suffered several different types of health problems as a result, including metal in the blood, tissue death, and bone erosion. They have also claimed the defendants marketed the implant as being safe and durable despite knowing the risks.

Sales of the Pinnacle devices were stopped in 2013. That same year, DePuy paid approximately $2.5 billion to settle about 7,000 lawsuits regarding a separate metal-on-metal hip implant device known as the ASR. That device was taken off the market in 2010.