A California Judge denied Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary DePuy Inc.’s motion to overturn an $8.26 million judgment awarded to hip implant-recipient Loren Kransky, who suffered serious complications due to the defective ASR XL metal-on-metal hip replacement.
DePuy, the medical device manufacturer, submitted its motion, arguing that the jury verdict, reached at the conclusion of a five-week trial concerning DePuy’s ASR XL hip implant, was “fatally inconsistent” and could not be reconciled.
The inconsistency, DePuy contended, arose from the jury finding DePuy strictly liable for the design defect, while also finding that DePuy had adequately warned medical professionals about the dangers of the ASR XL that would not be apparent to a treating physician.
On May 24, 2013, however, California Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger ruled that the jury’s finding was rational and supported by evidence found at trial. As a result of Judge Czuleger’s ruling, the jury’s verdict of $8.26 million remained intact, with only a slight reduction in the amount granted for medical expenses. Included in that award are $8 million for non-economic damages for pain and suffering. In addition, the award contains just above $260,000 for medical expenses, but no award for punitive damages.
Loren Kransky filed suit against Depuy, claiming strict product liability, failure to warn, and negligence, after he experienced the failure of an ASR XL device that was implanted in his left hip in 2007. Specifically, he claimed that the metal-on-metal hip implant, which he had replaced last year, shed metal debris into his body, causing his health to decline.
DePuy’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, faces more than 10,000 lawsuits nationwide over the ASR devices. “The success of this plaintiff in this first-of-its-kind trial is a huge win for the thousands of others who have been harmed by these defectively designed metal-on-metal hip implants,” said an attorney of Keefe Law Firm, located in Red Bank, New Jersey.
If you or a loved one have experienced complications involving an ASR XL hip implant, please contact Keefe Law Firm, immediately by calling 1-877-ATTY-24-7. Attorneys at Keefe Law Firm, are available for free legal consultations to victims of alleged hip implant failures. Keefe Law Firm handles complex medical device implant litigation throughout the nation. The firm’s offices are headquartered in New Jersey.
