J&J Hit With $500 Million Verdict in Hip Implant Trial
Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy unit were ordered by a Texas federal jury on Thursday to pay about $500 million to five plaintiffs who said they were injured by Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implants, Reuters reports.
Jurors deliberated for a week before finding that the Pinnacle hips were defectively designed, and that the companies failed to warn the public about their risks. The verdict at the conclusion of the two-month trial called for about $140 million in total compensatory damages and about $360 million in punitive damages.
A J&J spokeswoman said the company will appeal.
Mark Lanier of The Mark Lanier Law Firm, with offices in Houston, New York and Los Angeles, was lead trial counsel for the plaintiffs.