California Superior Court Judge Denies Motion to Overturn An $8.26 Million Judgment in Depuy ASR Hip Case

Online, June 17, 2013 (Newswire.com) - A California Judge denied Johnson & Johnson's subsidiary DePuy Inc.'s motion to overturn an $8.26 million judgment awarded to hip implant-recipient Loren Kransky, who suffered serious complications due to the defective ASR XL metal-on-metal hip replacement.

DePuy, the medical device manufacturer, submitted its motion on April 17, 2013, arguing that the jury verdict, reached at the conclusion of a five-week trial concerning DePuy's ASR XL hip implant, was "fatally inconsistent" and could not be reconciled.

The inconsistency, DePuy contended, arose from the jury finding DePuy strictly liable for the design defect, while also finding that DePuy had adequately warned medical professionals about the dangers of the ASR XL that would not be apparent to a treating physician.

On May 24, 2013, however, California Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger ruled that the jury's finding was rational and supported by evidence found at trial. As a result of Judge Czuleger's ruling, the jury's verdict of $8.26 million remained intact, with only a slight reduction in the amount granted for medical expenses. Included in that award are $8 million for non-economic damages for pain and suffering. In addition, the award contains just above $260,000 for medical expenses, but no award for punitive damages.

Loren Kransky filed suit against Depuy in February 2011, claiming strict product liability, failure to warn, and negligence, after he experienced the failure of an ASR XL device that was implanted in his left hip in 2007. Specifically, he claimed that the metal-on-metal hip implant, which he had replaced last year, shed metal debris into his body, causing his health to decline.

DePuy voluntarily recalled the ASR all-metal hip implants in August 2010 after a study concluded that those implants failed at excessively high rates. Medical experts estimate that nondefective hip implants typically function well for approximately 15 years. Loren Kransky, however, required a revision surgery to replace his ASR XL implant in just over three years.

DePuy's parent company, Johnson & Johnson, faces more than 10,000 lawsuits nationwide over the ASR devices. "The success of this plaintiff in this first-of-its-kind trial is a huge win for the thousands of others who have been harmed by these defectively designed metal-on-metal hip implants," said attorney Josh Kincannon of Keefe Bartels, located in Red Bank, New Jersey.

If you or a loved one have experienced complications involving an ASR XL hip implant, please contact Keefe Bartels, LLC, immediately by calling 1-877-ATTY-24-7. Attorneys at Keefe Bartels, LLC, are available for free legal consultations to victims of alleged hip implant failures. Keefe Bartels, LLC, handles complex medical device implant litigation throughout the nation. The firm's offices are headquartered in New Jersey. For more information, please visit the firm's website at www.defectivejoints.com.