Faulty Hip Replacement Systems will make J&J and Zimmer $5 Billion Poorer
You are lucky if you had just an all-metal hip replacement and yet you can manage to walk. But with the
depuy hip recall class action that are virtually sprouting everywhere, I can’t blame you if you wished
that you did not undergo an implant of the allegedly flawed device. One thing is certain: Johnson &
Johnson and Zimmer Holdings will pay a staggering settlement costs for the thousands and thousands
affected individuals who filed depuy hip lawsuit and Zimmer hip class action maybe for as high as $5
billion.
Thousands of affected individuals are suffering from excruciating pain because of the flawed hip device.
New York Times reported that the constant rubbing of the metal ball and joint creates metal splinters
which in return cause infections to people who had an implanted hip device. And of those victims is
Thomas Dougherty, a 55 years old CAT employee. His hospitalization charges and doctor’s bill totaled to
$428,857, Times reported.
The $5 billion is just an estimate, indeed the total and exact cost is hard to come by since the processes
of settlement are still on-going. An estimated 250,000 patients had undergone hip replacement and
33% of themhad the all-metal implants. As the time wore on the percentage decline steeply and the
estimates revealed that 500,000 patients have the all-metal implants.
And sad to say, the all-metal implants had a not-so-impressive performance. In fact, a study conducted
by Times within the five-year period no metal implants had outlived the older version of the device. In
fact 30% of the newer version of all-metal implants was worse.
Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy division and Zimmer Holdings are the two biggest all-metal hip replacement
manufacturers plagued with controversies. As of October last year, a total of 40,000 for depuy hip
recall alone had been recorded. No wonder that rise of depuy hip recall lawyer services.As for Zimmer,
the company announced their all-metal implants are safe and they already settled “hundreds of patient
claims.”
The U.S. government and the concerned sector do not track down any hip replacement progress.
Stricter laws must be imposed before a certain product or device will be available in the market. Despite
the string of product recalls that J&J succumbed, still the company reported higher-than-expected
revenue and core profit. Where is reputational damage then? The allegedly flawed devices that these
companies had made had caused a lot of adjustment for the affected individuals. Others even lost their
jobs and just lived like a physically challenged individual incapable of doing simple tasks.