Hip Recall Hits Johnson & Johnson's Bottom Line

Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Orthopaedics unit issued an extensive recall of its “metal-on-metal” hip replacement devices in 2010 after they shed metal fragments, causing disabling injuries. The corporation took quarterly charges of more than $3 billion, largely related to the recall of artificial hips, and gave a 2012 earnings forecast below analysts’ estimates on Tuesday. The recalled ASR model should not be confused with the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant. The Pinnacle model has not been recalled but many lawsuits have been filed citing the same defects as the recalled model.

The fourth-quarter charges will allow money to be set aside for patients involved in the product liability MDL.

“The hip recalls worry me because their eventual costs are unknown,” said Jeff Jonas, an analyst at Gabelli & Company, who noted that the fourth-quarter charges included $800 million for medical costs of the recall. Johnson & Johnson has paid the costs associated with revision surgeries for many plaintiffs who have been injured by the ASR model. The corporation has not been so kind to those people who were implanted with the Pinnacle model. 

The company forecast 2012 earnings of $5.05 to $5.15 a share, compared with the consensus Wall Street view of $5.21. Johnson & Johnson reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, helped by favorable taxes and sales of new prescription drugs. The company earned $218 million, or 8 cents a share, in the quarter. That compares with $1.9 billion, or 70 cents a share, a year earlier, when it also took charges for recalls of hip replacement devices.

Johnson & Johnson, which is based in New Brunswick, N.J., said global sales rose 3.9 percent in the quarter, to $16.26 billion, slightly below analysts’ target. Sometimes, the only way to make large corporations aware of the pain and damage they have caused to the public is by lawsuits that affect their bottom dollar. It appears the ASR MDL lawsuits are doing just that. 

If you or a loved one have had hip replacement surgery and have been implanted with a defective DePuy hip, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages and other injuries. Our firm is currently investigating claims for those people who have been implanted with DePuy hip replacement devices, both ASR and Pinnacle. If you would like a free case evaluation, please contact Booth Samuels toll free at 1-866-515-8880 or at booths@pittmandutton.com.

The Cost of Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants

Some are calling metal-on-metal hip implants the most widespread medical implant failure in decades. Medical and legal experts estimate the hip failures may cost taxpayers, insurers, employers and others billions of dollars in coming years, contributing to the soaring cost of health care. The financial fallout is expected to be unusually large and complex because the episode involves a class of products, not a single device or just one company. There are many companies that manufacture and market metal-on-metal hip prosthetics, but the company most in the spotlight is DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson.

The device’s ball and joint are made of metal and are failing at high rates within a few years instead of lasting 10 to 15 years or more, as artificial joints normally do. The wear of metal parts against each other is generating debris that is damaging tissue and, in some cases, crippling patients. Often times, this leads to metallosis, which can cause pseudo-tumors.

The incidents have set off a financial scramble. The New York Times recently reported that lawsuits and complaints against makers of all-metal replacement hips passed the 5,000 mark. Insurers are alerting patients that they plan to recover their expenses from any settlement money that patients receive. Medicare is also expected to try to recover its costs. However, this occurs in almost any lawsuit where a plaintiff is injured and a third-party has paid medical expenses related to that injury. The problem here is the grand scale of that recovery.

The New York Times reported that until a recent sharp decline, all-metal implants accounted for nearly one-third of the estimated 250,000 hip replacements performed each year in the United States. Most of that decline can be attributed to the recall of the ASR hip, which some estimate to have been implanted in 40,000 patients in the United States. As of October, some 3,500 patients had filed a lawsuit involving that device.

Some 500,000 patients have received an all-metal replacement hip, according to one estimate. A new study found that no new artificial hip or knee introduced during a recent five-year period — implants that included some of the all-metal hips — were more durable than older devices, and 30 percent were worse. The numbers on this are stifling. Does this mean that metal-on-metal technology, whether it involves hips or knees, is a complete failure?

Unfortunately, there is no data on the number of all-metal hips, or any prosthetic hip for that matter, that have failed prematurely in the United States because the outcomes of orthopedic procedures are not formally tracked by our government or private companies. However, by analyzing data from overseas and comparing that data to the estimated numbers in the United States, tens of thousands of patients in our country may have to undergo operations over the next decade to replace the implants. This is the conclusion of Dr. Art Sedrakyan, a researcher at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, who is studying the hip problem.

DePuy would not comment on how much it had paid in recall-related costs. But a spokeswoman, Mindy Tinsley, said in a statement that DePuy was working with patients and insurers.

Along with the ASR-related cases, DePuy also faces over 560 lawsuits in connection with the all-metal version of another hip model, called the Pinnacle. DePuy has not issued a recall of the Pinnacle because the company says that the model is performing well. Nevertheless, Pinnacles are being replaced and the costs for their replacement are being borne by Medicare, insurers or patients themselves.

If you or a loved one have had hip replacement surgery and have been implanted with a defective DePuy hip, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages and other injuries. Our firm is currently investigating claims for those people who have been implanted with DePuy hip replacement devices, both ASR and Pinnacle. If you would like a free case evaluation, please contact Booth Samuels toll free at 1-866-515-8880 or at booths@pittmandutton.com.

Actos Lawsuits Consolidated Into MDL

Late last year on December 29, 2011, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued a Transfer Order consolidating numerous lawsuits against Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. related to the use of Actos.  These cases were consolidated into MDL No. 2299 and will be centralized in the Western District of Louisiana and will now be assigned to Judge Rebecca Doherty. 

The cases were consolidated based on the fact that the cases all revolve around the same allegations.  These allegations include that individuals using Actos for treatment of type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of developing bladder cancer.  It is also alleged that the Defendant, Takeda, concealed their knowledge of this risk and therefore failed to provide adequate warnings to consumers.

Actos is the tenth best-selling medication in the United States and has been found to increase the risk of developing bladder cancer in patients who have taken Actos for more than one year. 

Although an MDL, or Multi-District Litigation, is often confused with class action lawsuits, the cases do remain individual injury lawsuits, even though they are transferred to the same judge for pretrial litigation. If a settlement, agreement or other resolution for the litigation is not reached in the MDL, then the cases would be remanded back to the court where they were originally filed for trial.

As a patient who was prescribed Actos, either for diabetes glucose management or any other reason, you need to be aware of the increased risk of Actos bladder cancer that taking Actos brings. If you have Actos bladder cancer, or believe that you may have Actos bladder cancer, please contact me at booths@pittmandutton.com or call toll free 1-866-515-8880.