The first DePuy hip replacement personal injury claim to be heard in court has resulted in an award of $8.3 million being made to a former prison officer.
The claim made by a South Dakota resident – Loren Kransky (65) – was brought forward ahead of the Multi District Litigation (MDL) due to be heard in May in Ohio, as Loren is terminally ill from diabetes, heart disease and kidney cancer.
Loren´s solicitors at the Los Angeles Superior Court claimed that Loren had to undergo a second hip replacement operation – causing him unnecessary pain and suffering – due to high levels of chromium and cobalt in his bloodstream caused by the metal-on-metal friction within his DePuy ASR XL Acetabular hip replacement system.
The solicitors claimed that Johnson and Johnson – the parent company of DePuy Orthopaedics – marketed the faulty hip replacement in full knowledge that the ASR systems were defective; effectively accusing the company of fraud in addition to negligence – which, had the jury agreed with the argument, would have entitled Loren to qualify for significant punitive damages.
Johnson and Johnson denied that they knew the ASR hip replacements were faulty in 2007 – the year in which Loren underwent his original hip replacement surgery – and contested Loren´s claim for DePuy hip replacement personal injury compensation on the grounds that his pain and suffering was due to his pre-existing medical conditions.
After lengthy deliberations, the jury at the Los Angeles Superior Court found that Johnson and Johnson had not acted “with malice” by fraudulently marketing their product in 2007, but agreed that the product was defective and awarded Loren $8 million in settlement of his DePuy hip replacement personal injury claim, with a further $338,000 to account for the medical expenses he has incurred to date.
Johnson and Johnson announced immediately after that the company intends to appeal the jury´s decision, as the precedent of an $8 million settlement in compensation for pain and suffering could be greatly used as a basis to determine levels of compensation for plaintiffs who do not have a terminal illness when the DePuy MDL action is heard in Ohio.