Johnson and Johnson legal department avoids paying damages in latest Chicago DePuy ASR Trial, Csengeri Law takes valuable notes.

Torrance, CA -- (SBWire) -- 04/24/2013 --The latest Chicago DePuy ASR Trial is over. The second of nearly 11,000 cases regarding the recalled DePuy Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) hip replacement implant has come to an end in Chicago. On April 15, jurors heard the final arguments from Denman Heard for plaintiff Carol Strum, as well as the Johnson and Johnson legal team on behalf of DePuy. Heard asked the jury for upwards of $5 million in damages stemming from the recalled metal-on-metal implant. In an impassioned plea, Heard called for the jury to award Strum extra punitive damages to penalize the orthopedics giant.

The jury recessed for just over a full day before delivering the surprising verdict. On the evening of April 16, he jury ruled on behalf of DePuy. The jury also rejected Heard’s request for extra damages to be imposed against DePuy. The verdict in this Chicago DePuy ASR trial stands in stark contrast to the verdict in favor of former prison guard Loren Kransky, who received monies in excess of $8 million in his California DePuy ASR judgment in March.

DePuy recalled 93,000 of the metal-on-metal implant in August 2010, following the Johnson and Johnson acknowledgement that the device had a higher than average failure rate. In this particular case, the Johnson and Johnson team argued that Strum had preexisting hypersensitivity. This condition caused problems for the implant, and the implant had not abraded and pushed chromium and cobalt into her body causing additional damages. While numerous metal-on-metal implants have led to build up of abraded metal particles, previous health issues prevented the jury from finding DePuy guilty of inappropriately marketing the recalled implant as safe.

This case does represent a hurdle for patients suffering due to the recalled DePuy ASR implant, but the legal battle for Johnson and Johnson and DePuy is far from over. Over 2,000 more DePuy ASR lawsuits have been filed in state court in California. It is currently estimated that three quarters of the total lawsuits will go to federal court in Toledo, Ohio. The next DePuy ASR hip replacement trial is scheduled for federal court in Ohio in May.

The hip replacement law experts at Csengeri Law has carefully monitored the Chicago trial. Regardless of recent Chicago ASR verdict, Csengeri Law has documented considerable testimony that could be potentially invaluable in future cases. Steve Csengeri, a one-time sufferer of a defective hip implant himself, takes implant law extremely seriously. He has devoted Csengeri Law to helping implant recall sufferers. Csengeri Law will continue to monitor the ongoing DePuy ASR trials, and continue to offer free consultations patients suffering from defective or recalled joint replacement implants.

More information on Csengeri Law and the DePuy ASR Recall is available on the Csengeri Law website.

Csengeri Law Offices
24445 Hawthorne Blvd, Ste 200
Torrance, CA 90505
Telephone: (310) 373-9330
Facsimile: (310) 373-9040