Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary DePuy Synthes lost its bid to have some rand jury records unsealed for a wrongful death lawsuit brought over its Norian bone cements. At least 5 patients died during otherwise routine operations after the Norian cement was used off-label in their spine surgeries. The bone cement was initially developed by a company called […]
Norian Corp.
Trial slated in wrongful death suit over Norian XR bone cement
A state court in Washington is slated next week to hear the 1st trial in a group of civil lawsuits filed by the families of patients who died on the operating table minutes after injection with the Norian XR bone cement then made by now-Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Synthes. At least 5 patients died during […]
Families sue Synthes over patients’ deaths | Legal Roundup
The families of 2 patients who died on the operating table during spine surgery involving the use of Synthes’ Norian XR bone cement are suing the company and 4 former executives for wrongful death and elder abuse, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court, was brought by the families of Ryoichi Kikuchi and Barbara Marcelino, both 83. They died after surgeons injected the bone cement during their procedures, but there is no definitive link between their deaths and use of the cement as a cause of death, according to the newspaper.
Final Synthes ex-exec gets prison time for illegal human trials
Fourth and final indicted Synthes ex-VP Richard Bohner was sentenced to 8 months in prison for his role in illegal human trials of an experimental bone cement that left three patients dead.
The decision follows news last month that former Synthes North America president Michael Huggins and former executive VP Thomas Higgins each got 9 months in federal prison followed by probation, as well as $100,000 in fines apiece.
UPDATE: 3 Synthes execs get prison time, fourth awaits sentencing after lawyer’s collapse
Three former Synthes executives received prison sentences for their roles in the unauthorized human trials of an experimental bone cement that left three patients dead.
Former North America president Michael Huggins and former executive VP Thomas Higgins each got 9 months in federal prison followed by probation, as well as $100,000 in fines apiece.
John Walsh, the former director of regulatory and clinical affairs, got 5 months in federal prison for his complicity. His sentence was pushed off by a week to allow him to attend his daughter’s birthday party.
UPDATE: Two Synthes execs gets 9 months
Former Synthes Inc. North America president Michael Huggins and former executive VP Thomas Higgins were sentenced to 9 months in federal prison each for roles in unauthorized Norian bone cement trials in which three patients died during surgery.
The decision was handed down today by U.S. District Court Judge Legrome Davis today. Two other former Synthes executives still await sentencing.
FLASH: Synthes exec gets 9 months
Former Synthes Inc. North America president Michael Huggins was sentenced to 9 months in federal prison for his role in unauthorized Norian bone cement trials in which three patients died during surgery.
The decision was handed down today by Judge Legrome Davis of the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania. Three other former Synthes executives still await sentencing.
Huggins’ looming incarceration marks the first sentence handed down under the 1975 Park Doctrine, whereby executives may be held accountable as "responsible corporate officers" whether they intended to break the law or not.
Feds seek prison time for Synthes execs
Federal prosecutors want four former Synthes Inc. executives to spend up to a year in jail after they pleaded guilty to their roles in an un-authorized bone cement trial in which three patients died during surgery.
Feds force Synthes to sell Norian, pay $23 million in fines
Synthes Inc., the American division of the Swiss medical device maker, will plead guilty to federal criminal charges that its North American subsidiary Norian Corp. made an illegal end run around the Food & Drug Administration for clinical trials in which three patients died.
