J&J Told to Cough Up $1B Over Verdict On Metal Hip Implants

J&J is ordered to pay $1 billion to plaintiffs who claimed injury from the company’s metal-on-metal hip implants.

Six cases were selected out of 8,000 lawsuits filed against J&J device manufacturer, DePuy Orthopaedics, who reported injuries such as tissue death and bone erosion that plaintiffs blamed on poor device design.

Though the company refutes wrongdoing, it stopped selling the implants in August 2013, following an FDA announcement saying it would step up its review process for new versions of the product.  J&J will appeal the verdict. — Cynthia Jessup