WSJ: JNJ Facing $1+ Billion in ASR Costs (written by Lauren Uzdienski @ HealthPointCapital)
A Wall Street Journal article on Friday highlighted three companies facing "mass litigation": Toyota for unintended acceleration, BP for last year's massive oil spill and, now, DePuy and the ASR XL hip.
The metal-on-metal hip has already led to a recall and may have contributed to former DePuy Ortho president David Floyd's resignation. The Journal reports that around 1,000 lawsuits have been filed in federal and state courts alleging that DePuy was aware of the ASR's risks and unusual failure rate before the company stopped manufacturing the devices in 2009 or initiated the recall. DePuy spokespeople have claimed that the U.K. registry data publicized last year was their first indication that there was a problem with the device, which the company estimates has been implanted in about 37,000 patients in the U.S. and about 93,000 worldwide.
DePuy could face more than $1 billion in litigation and other expenses associated with the ASR. The company has said they will cover all medical costs associated with the ASR, including revision surgery, and has already responded to 27,000 patients.
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