Jury Returns Verdict in Defective J&J Hip Implants Case

A federal court jury in Texas returned a $247 million verdict on behalf of six individuals who said they suffered serious medical complications from metal-on-metal Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System hip implants made by Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics.

The jury awarded more than $78 million in compensatory damages for the six plaintiffs and more than $168 million in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson and DePuy.

J&J, which faces more than 9,700 lawsuits over Pinnacle implants in state and federal courts across the country, said it would immediately begin the appeal process.

The implants were most commonly used to treat joint failure caused by osteoarthritis. DePuy stopped selling the metal-on-metal Pinnacle implants in 2013 after the FDA strengthened regulations on artificial hip devices.