J&J to pay more to settle suits over hip implants

Delaware

JOHNSON & Johnson agreed to pay as much as US$420 million more to resolve lawsuits over recalled hip implants that were excluded in 2013 from a US$2.5 billion settlement of claims that the devices were defective and caused metal poisoning in patients.

J&J's DePuy unit agreed to push back the deadline for recipients of the company's ASR implants to file settlement claims to Jan 31 of this year, according to a filing Friday in federal court in Toledo, Ohio. That will allow as many as 1,400 patients who've had ASR hips removed since 2013 to seek about US$300,000 each in compensation under the original 2013 accord.