Jury awards plaintiff $8.3 million in DePuy ASR XL hip recall trial

DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson & Johnson company, was ordered to pay $8,338,000 in compensatory damages to 65-year-old Loren “Bill” Kransky after a jury found the company’s ASR XL total hip component was defectively designed.

However, the jury rejected Kransky’s claim that DePuy failed to warn about the risks associated with the implant. The ruling was made in Los Angeles on March 8 after a five-week trial that began on Jan. 25.

DePuy plans to appeal the jury’s decision, according to company representatives.

“We believe ASR XL was properly designed, and that DePuy’s actions concerning the product were appropriate and responsible,” Lorie Gawreluk, a spokeswoman for DePuy, stated in a press release. “We plan to appeal the jury’s decision on design defect pending the outcome of post-trial motions. We believe we have a number of valid grounds for appeal, notably that the court didn’t let the company tell the jury about the Food and Drug Administration’s review and clearance of the device.”

The majority of DePuy ASR lawsuits are pending in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio and the trials are slated to begin this spring, according to court records. These cases are organized as a multi-district litigation.

Jury selection has already begun for another ASR hip system trial in Cook County, Ill.

Reference:

Kransky v. DePuy, BC456086, California Superior Court, Los Angeles County (Los Angeles).