Thousands of patients whose hip implants failed and were removed prior to August 31, 2013 and who enrolled in the $2.5 billion settlement will begin to receive their settlement payments. Late last week, DePuy and its parent company Johnson & Johnson agreed to waive its ”walk-away rights” and are proceeding to fund the six-figure settlements in light of the vast majority of eligible patients choosing to enroll in the settlement.
Most of the claimants will receive the base pay of their settlement this summer. The standard base payment is $250,000 although it can be reduced under certain limited circumstances.
Virtually unprecedented in the settlement is DePuy’s responsibility to separately reimburse Medicare and other health insurance providers for the cost of the revision surgery and related care, which typically costs $50,000 and upward. Certain clients with extraordinary injuries will be eligible for additional compensation beyond the base award.
Weitz & Luxenberg’s Ellen Relkin, co-lead counsel for the DePuy ASR Multi-District Litigation, worked for many months with the negotiating team in reaching the settlement’s terms. Now, hundreds of the firm’s clients, along with thousands of others, stand to have their cases resolved.
Other DePuy ASR recipients who have already retained W&L but did not qualify for the pending settlement program because the implant was removed after August 31, 2013 or has not been removed yet will continue to pursue their claims against Johnson & Johnson.
Relkin stresses that Weitz & Luxenberg’s is still able to accept new DePuy ASR and other defective hip cases, and encourages patients with potentially defective or revised hip implants to contact the firm.
