
Prosecutors involved in the high-profile bellwether lawsuit of Johnson & Johnson‘s (NYSE:JNJ) DePuy orthopedics division said there is growing evidence that company hid key information about the risks of its ASR metal-on-metal hip implant.
That hip implant was pulled from the market in 2010, prompting a cascade of personal injury lawsuits that are now trickling into court rooms. After some delays and out-of-court settlements, the next bellwether trial of DePuy’s ASR implant will begin in federal court on September 9.
During early trial proceedings, attorneys for the patients said that new evidence emerged that DePuy had failed to report known risks to the FDA. According to court documents, the law firms Bernstein Liebhard LLP and Walkup Melodia Kelly & Schoenberger say there is new testimony that DePuy misled regulators from 2006 to 2010.
Last week, prosecutors asked the federal watchdog agency investigate possible wrongdoings during the 2010 recall.
The FDA probe will not affect the trajectory of the other trials already set to begin next week. In July a federal judge ruled that evidence of the recall of the DePuy ASR metal-on-metal hip implant can be excluded from a bellwether trial.