Johnson & Johnson CEO Answers to Recalls

Johnson & Johnson's CEO says he hopes most of the company's product recalls are behind it, but he can't use the word never. William Weldon has run the health care giant since 2002. He says J&J has learned some lessons, invested heavily in improving quality and will work to regain consumer confidence.

Since September 2009, the company has had about two dozen recalls of prescription and nonprescription medicines, replacement hips, contact lenses and diabetes test strips. These recalls include recalls from J&J’s subsidiary companies, such as DePuy. One of its consumer health products factories is still being upgraded a year after it was closed, and two others are under close scrutiny by federal regulators. Even Congress has been investigating J&J's handling of recalls. Weldon will face shareholders at J&J's annual meeting April 28.

Among the many products recalled by the corporate giant is the DePuy ASR XL hip device. This hip prosthesis is a metal-on-metal device which causes, among other things, pain, inflammation and swelling. The constant friction between the metal parts releases cobalt and chromium into the blood stream and body. This in turn results in metallosis, a dangerous form of poisoning which can lead to rashes, soft-tissue damage, pseudo-tumors and neurological disorders.

DePuy also manufactures a Pinnacle Hip System. Some of the Pinnacle hips are metal-on-metal, which are extremely similar to the ASR hip device. Lawsuits have been filed by patients who were implanted with the Pinnacle device alleging the Pinnacle has caused similar damages to those patients who were implanted with the ASR hip devices. 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 at toll free 1-866-515-8880 or at booths@pittmandutton.com.

Partial Settlement in Chinese Drywall MDL

A partial “settlement” has been reached with Interior/Exterior Building Supply LP, the New Orleans company that distributed the Knauf-brand imported Chinese drywall from Texas to Alabama, and its insurers. It appears that the settlement is broken down into two groups-“Louisiana homeowners” and “Non-Louisiana homeowners”. No details are available yet on how and when money could be distributed to eligible homeowners.

Under the deal, which is still subject to court approval, Interior/Exterior's two primary insurers will put up the $8 million limit of their insurance policies to compensate homeowners. Sadly, this amount is but a drop in the bucket to cover remediation and health care costs related to the toxic drywall. That is why later this year, the plaintiffs will proceed to trial against Interior/Exterior's excess insurers, who have another $72 million in coverage.

Drywall was imported from China from 2004 to 2008 because the domestic drywall industry couldn't keep up with the demands of the housing boom and massive rebuilding efforts in the Gulf South after the 2004 and 2005 hurricane season. The drywall releases sulfuric gases that corrode metal appliances and components in homes, and residents of homes with problem drywall complain that it gives them headaches and respiratory ailments. They have been stuck living in houses they can't afford to fix and are unable to sell because insurers won't cover Chinese drywall related damages.

Today's settlement builds upon a deal that was reached in October with Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, a Chinese manufacturing unit of the German company Knauf Gips. Knauf and other entities that dealt with the problem drywall, including Interior/Exterior, agreed to pay for a pilot program to remediate 300 homes with Knauf-brand drywall in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The program launched in February with homes in Florida, and in March with homes in Louisiana. Moss & Associates, the Florida contractor hired to run the program, has said that all 300 homes should be enrolled in the program by the end of June, and all work should be completed by the end of the year. The pilot program has been slow and there were some delays to begin the program.

The goal of the program was to get a more realistic sense of what it costs to repair a home with bad drywall, and use it to confect a larger settlement. But it only touches 300 homes in four states, while the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has received complaints from about 6,300 homeowners in 38 states, and some estimates say tens of thousands of homes are affected. Louisiana has the second highest number of complaints on file at the CPSC, behind Florida. It also appears that more and more Knauf homes are being discovered in Alabama, and particularly in the mid-to-northern counties of the State.

Knauf is believed to be the largest company that manufactured bad drywall, and it is the only manufacturer that has voluntarily stepped up to try to resolve problems. Interior/Exterior, based out of New Orleans, is Knauf's primary distributor in the South.

Our firm is currently investigating Chinese drywall claims. If you or a loved one have been injured by toxic Chinese drywall, please contact Booth Samuels at (toll free) 1-866-515-8880 or at booths@pittmandutton.com.

DePuy Pinnacle MDL News

Since DePuy was forced to recall the defective ASR hip implants in August, an MDL was formed to handle those lawsuits. Attorneys who have filed lawsuits on behalf of clients who have been injured by DePuy’s Pinnacle Hip System have petitioned the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation that all of the federal DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits be consolidated and centralized before a single District Judge.  If the panel agrees to form a DePuy Pinnacle MDL, a new MDL will be formed that will solely focus on DePuy Pinnacle lawsuits. The likelihood that an MDL for Pinnacles would be attached to or included with the ASR MDL is highly unlikely.  

This MDL will function in a similar manner as the MDL for ASR’s. All discovery and pretrial motions will be consolidated under one District Judge and the lawsuits will revert back to their original districts for trial, if necessary. Injuries from the Pinnacle Hip System are similar to ASR injuries: pain, swelling, inflammation and metal poisoning. High levels of cobalt and chromium found in blood and urine samples are causing the most alarm as metallosis can cause rashes, soft-tissue damage and pseudo-tumors.

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 at toll free 1-866-515-8880 or at booths@pittmandutton.com.