J&J expected to offer $4B settlement for hip implant lawsuits

Johnson & Johnson this week is expected to announce a roughly $4 billion settlement that will resolve the thousands of lawsuits filed in response to the company's recalled metal-on-metal hip implants. The reported settlement closely follows the New Brunswick, N.J.-based company's $2.2 billion agreement to settle allegations that it marketed Risperdal and two other drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The ASR hip implants have failed at higher rates than traditional implants with plastic bearings. Patients have reported pain, adverse local tissue reactions and high ion concentrations, and many have undergone revision operations, which can cost $100,000. About 93,000 people worldwide received the ASR implants marketed by J&J's Depuy Orthopaedics business unit. They were recalled in 2010.

Bloomberg News reported that each patient would receive $300,000 or more for each surgery, based on age and medical condition. Patients whose hips fail in the future would not be barred from seeking payment.

While some patients exhibit symptoms making the decision for revision surgery very clear, others do not, and surgeons must monitor their metal ion levels year after year, said Dr. Geoffrey Westrich, director of research for the adult reconstruction and joint replacement division at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

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