Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics is on the hook for approximately $246.1 million in damages in a bellwether case over its allegedly defective Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants, according to recently released court documents.
Judge Ed Kinkeade of the Texas Northern District Court entered approximately $246.1 million in final judgements for plaintiffs in the bellwether case after a jury ruled in their favor, finding J&J liable for the defects and fraud.
The ruling included a total of approximately $43.7 million for plaintiff Hazel Miura, $36.8 million for Eugene Stevens, $37.8 million for Michael Stevens, $39.8 million for Ramon Alicea, $39.4 million for Uriel Barzel and $48.6 million for Karen Kirchner, according to court documents.
The amount is approximately $1 million lower than the $247 million in damages initially listed in the ruling released last November, but is in line with the amounts the plaintiffs were seeking, according to court documents from earlier this month.
Last November, the jury ruled that the controversial metal-on-metal hip implants were defectively designed and that patients did not receive appropriate warning about the risks associated with them, according to the report.
The six plaintiffs and patients in the case claimed that after implantation, the devices led to injuries including tissue death, bone erosion and other negative health effects, according to Reuters.
In the case, plaintiffs said that the companies falsely promoted the device with claims that it would last longer than more basic implants which featured plastic or ceramic materials.
The verdict is the fourth test trial in Dallas federal court over the metal-on-metal Pinnacle hips, with over 9,000 cases pending.
In December 2016, a federal jury in Dallas ordered J&J and DePuy Orthopedics to pay more than $1 billion to 6 plaintiffs claiming to be injured by its Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants, according to the plaintiffs lawyers.
