A pair of bellwether trials against Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics’ metal-on-metal hip implants are set take place next year, setting the framework for the ongoing litigation in New Jersey.
The trials, which the plaintiffs and defendants must select together, will be heard September 9 and October 21, 2013, according to court documents.
The action mirrors orders given by U.S. District Judge David Katz, who has been overseeing DePuy hip lawsuits consolidated in Ohio and who ordered attorneys for both sides to come to an agreement on bellwether cases to move forward with next year.
Late last month Judge Brian Martinotti of the Superior Court of New Jersey in Bergen County ordered counsel for plaintiffs and defendants to each select for trial 3 cases from the DePuy ASR hip implant complaints consolidated in that court.
Each side has until Oct. 15, 2012, to exchange the names of the cases they’ve selected as bellwether candidates, and they will have until January 15 to conduct discovery, including gathering depositions from implanting and explanting surgeons, from the plaintiffs and from 1 factual witness on each side, according to court documents.
More MassDevice.com coverage of metal-on-metal hip lawsuits.
The parties will then have until February 1 to tell the court which of the 6 candidate cases should move forward as bellwether trials,. If they fail to come to an agreement by February 15, the court will decide for them.
The New Jersey bellwether trials will follow those in Ohio, where Judge Katz scheduled hearings for May 6 and July 7, 2013.
The lawsuits against DePuy allege that the company was aware of complications arising from its ASR metal-on-metal hip implants, but failed to warn physicians.
Warsaw, Ind.-based DePuy Orthopedics pulled its ASR XL Acetabular and ASR Hip Resurfacing systems off the market in August 2010 after receiving reports that a higher-than-normal number of patients required surgeries to correct or remove defective implants.
Lawsuits have piled up all over the U.S., including a multi-district litigation consolidated in the Lone Star State under Judge James Kinkeade.
The first of roughly 2,000 cases filed in state courts were settled out of court in July for a reported $600,000, when more cases were added to the MDL case gathering suits filed over another DePuy metal-on-metal hip implant, the Pinnacle.
DePuy recently won a motion to prevent 1 case filed in the U.S. District Court for the South Carolina Columbia division from joining the larger lawsuit in Ohio, with Judge Joseph Anderson, Jr., concluding that the transfer may complicate potential jurisdiction issues.
