DePuy Hip Implant Recall Trial Ends In Major Loss for Johnson & Johnson

LOS ANGELES, March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal-Bay, The Lawsuit Settlement Funding Company, reported that a major verdict was announced on Fri. in California State Court involving the first DePuy Hip Implant recall case to go to trial.  The jury awarded $8.3MM against Johnson & Johnson for damages caused to the plaintiff.  The jury did not award punitive damages, however the plaintiff's attorneys were ecstatic with the victory. 

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Legal-Bay, a leader in Hip Lawsuit Funding involving DePuy, Wright, and Stryker hip implants predicted that some of the DePuy cases would begin to be resolved in the first quarter of 2013.  Although that has not happened in large numbers yet, many people in the legal funding industry believe the writing is on the wall for J&J. 

"The Los Angeles DePuy jury spoke loud and clear that J&J was liable for substantial damages.  With 10,000 cases in suit against J&J on the ASR hip, legal experts have told us the best move for J&J is to begin settling these cases in mass numbers or risk even greater exposure than the financial analysts have predicted," said Chris Janish, CEO of Legal-Bay. 

Legal-Bay had accurately predicted a larger "write down" on J&J's financial reports last year; and they now believe these write downs will continue not only with the ASR litigation, but also the DePuy Pinnacle hip.  The Pinnacle hip hasn't been recalled yet, but has the same metal-on-metal components as the ASR.    

J&J has set aside close to $3Bil for costs related to the product liability litigation.  However, that number could now go up as the public could view the "pain and suffering" to be even more severe than originally imagined by the legal experts.  Legal-Bay had pegged the average DePuy case to be worth somewhere in the $500K range, but with Friday's verdict those numbers could go up costing J&J even more to their balance sheet.  Johnson & Johnson's stock closed at $78.19 on Friday up $0.44.

Now that the verdict has been made public, Legal-Bay expects applications for DePuy settlement funding to go up substantially.  Patty Kirby, Head of Client Relations at Legal-Bay, commented on the company's influx of DePuy clients, "We have been an advocate for the DePuy clients since the start, whether it was the ASR or Pinnacle model, now the jury has affirmed what we have known all along that the DePuy ASR has caused debilitating injuries to so many.  We expect with this news reported in the media that more lawsuits and needs for lawsuit funding will only rise due to public awareness.  We remain committed to funding clients with a DePuy cash advance up to $50K, which can be paid back upon their ultimate settlement check." 

DePuy, Wright, or Stryker hip recall victims that have retained a lawyer can apply for a pre-settlement advance by going to: lawsuitssettlementfunding.com or by calling toll free at: 877.571.0405 where experienced agents can answer all of your DePuy or other hip litigation questions. 

For clients that do not have a hip recall lawyer, Legal-Bay urges them to get legal assistance immediately as the time to file a hip lawsuit is dwindling down.  If need be, Legal-Bay can assist victims with finding a national hip law firm for either DePuy, Wright, or Stryker hip manufacturers.    

Contact:  Patty Kirby, Head of Client Relations
              Ph. 877.571.0405   Email: [email protected] 

SOURCE Legal-Bay