A Texas federal jury held manufacturing giant Johnson & Johnson responsible for five patient’s injuries caused by the Pinnacle hip implant produced by the DePuy unit of Johnson & Johnson. The patients were awarded $500 million for what the jurors concluded was a defectively designed product. It took the jury one week to arrive at their decision following a two-month trial. The jury concluded that Johnson & Johnson knew about the problems with its product, yet failed to warn consumers about the potential risks. Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $140 in actual damages, as well as $360 million in punitive damages.

Manufacturer Neglects to Alert Consumers

Johnson & Johnson aggressively marketed the devices as safe, strong, and long-lasting. However, each of the five plaintiffs who had the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip device implanted experienced a number of negative side effects. They claimed that the devices failed at much higher rates than expected and that they suffered from serious injuries such as corrosion of the bone, loss of tissue, and increased metal levels in the blood.

Thousands of DePuy Hip Implant Cases

Eight thousand Pinnacle hip implant lawsuits have been launched and consolidated in Texas court claiming that Johnson & Johnson knew about the defects of its product, yet did not warn consumers. This most recent trial is the second federal trial concerning Johnson & Johnson’s Pinnacle implant. The company was not found liable in the first in 2014.

Although this month’s verdict is an important step in holding Johnson & Johnson accountable for its negligence, the results of this trial are not binding on upcoming legislation. The verdict, however, may be important in gauging the value of future claims. If you or a loved one has sustained a serious injury resulting from a defective product, the product liability attorneys at Goldberg Finnegan will fight to recover the compensation you deserve.