Closing Arguments Begin in CA DePuy Hip Recall Lawsuit
“They don’t have a soul,” is how attorney Brian Panish put it when talking about Johnson & Johnson’s aggressive sales and marketing of the DePuy ASR. Closing arguments began today in the first DePuy ASR hip recall case to go to trial in the U.S. Jurors will decide if Johnson & Johnson designed, marketed, and sold a defective ASR hip implant that caused 65-year-old Loren Kransky to suffer from metal poisoning, tissue damage, and a revision hip surgery, among other ailments.
Kransky testified that he was afraid he would die during the 2nd hip revision surgery to remove the bad ASR implant. His attorney, Brian Panish, is asking the jury for $338,000 for Kansky’s medical expenses, $5 million for compensatory damages, and between $72 and 179 million in punitive damages against the company to have “a solid message sent to them.”
Who/What to Blame?
J&J’s team of corporate lawyers laid a trail of blame throughout the trial. They tried to pin Kransky’s hip problems on an infection instead of on the hip itself. J&J also blamed his orthopedic doctor’s surgical technique for the problems. Finally, their toxicologist testified that Kransky’s metal debris levels were harmless even though they were 8 times higher than DePuy’s own standards.
The jury will now take its turn re-examining evidence and deciding who to believe in this benchmark trial.
If you have a recalled DePuy ASR hip replacement, contact the lawyers at mctlaw. Our firm exclusively represents people hurt in medical product cases. For a free evaluation, fill out our joint replacement case review form or call the office at 888-952-5242.
