Plaintiffs’ attorneys had known for some time that there were problems with DePuy’s ASR hip replacement because we generally pay attention to adverse reports and we hear from potential plaintiffs long before we even know there will be grounds for a suit in the first place.
But what put the whole thing into overdrive was the recall itself after J&J, who really owns DePuy, looked at the whole thing and said, we need to get out now while we can because (1) people are getting hurt (which I do think they care about to varying degrees), and (2) our legal liability is going to be through the roof if we don’t do something. There are now nearly 7,800 suits and DePuy is going to be paying – I predict, anyway – a ton of money on these claims. So they wanted to cut their losses.
With the first MDL trial around the corner, DePuy wants to keep the recall out of evidence. Why? Because it is pretty much game, set, match for the idea that the ASR metal-on-metal replacement was awful.