DePuy Hip Implant Deal Excludes Thousands

DePuy Hip Implant Deal Excludes Thousands: by Amanda Bronstad
National Law Journal

Just weeks after DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. announced a $2.5 billion settlement to resolve the bulk of the litigation over its recalled hip implants, some lawyers have raised concerns about the thousands of patients excluded from the deal and the process that determines how the plaintiffs will be compensated.
The settlement resolves about 8,000 lawsuits filed nationwide against DePuy, a unit of Johnson & Johnson. DePuy agreed to provide a $2.475 billion cash fund to compensate patients for costs associated with "revision surgeries," or those designed to remove its implants — the "ASR XL" or "ASR resurfacing devices," which plaintiffs claimed caused pain, clicking and grinding of the hips, as well as high metal content in blood tests.
The deal, announced at a Nov. 19 hearing in Toledo before U.S. District Senior Judge David Katz, also includes up to $1 billion in reimbursements to health care insurance firms that paid for those surgeries.
But plaintiffs in about 4,000 cases won't be eligible to participate in the settlement, which is also contingent on at least 94 percent of patients submitting claims. DePuy has the right to walk away if too many opt out.
Some already have raised concerns about the settlement.

Read more: http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202631268495&DePuy_Hip_Implant_Deal_Excludes_Thousands_#ixzz2nAqKtjC2

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