Johnson & Johnson is currently defending itself in more than 50,000 lawsuits. The healthcare giant is accused of hiding safety risks, selling dangerous drugs and devices, and putting profits over public safety.
Trial is underway in St. Louis, Missouri on behalf of a woman who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer after using Johnson’s Baby Powder on her genitals for 45 years. Lawyers said the company was urged since at least 1982 to use warning labels.
The trial follows massive losses by J&J in two similar cases this year. In February, $72 million was awarded o the family of a woman who died of ovarian cancer. Just three months later, another woman was awarded $55 million.
Another trial is underway in Dallas, Texas, on behalf of six people who needed surgery when their Pinnacle hip implants failed. Over 8,800 lawsuits claim the metal-on-metal implant is defective because it releases toxic metal particles when the ball-and-socket grind together.
Lawyers say the company knew the metal-on-metal design was riskier than plastic and ceramic hip implants, but aggressively marketed it toward younger and more physically-active patients anyway.
Meanwhile, J&J’s Animas Corp. subsidiary finally decided to warn that the OneTouch Ping insulin pump is vulnerable to hacking — more than three years after the flaw was publicized by hackers themselves.
The pump is not connected to the internet, but it has an unencrypted radio frequency communication system that could be hijacked to deliver a life-threatening overdose of insulin.
Animas Corp. said the risk is “extremely low” and it would “require technical expertise, sophisticated equipment and proximity to the pump.” But in August 2013, a well-known medical device hacker named Jay Radcliffe demonstrated — live on stage at a security conference in Las Vegas — that the OneTouch Ping could be hacked to deliver a deadly dose of insulin.
J&J is currently facing thousands of lawsuits from people who were injured by other drugs and devices, including…
- Xarelto, a blood-thinning drug that currently lacks an antidote. Over 10,000 patients who were injured by major bleeding have filed lawsuits against Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of J&J.
- Vaginal mesh, a pelvic implant for women that has can erode through the vagina and cause permanent complications. About 35,000 lawsuits are pending in federal court against Ethicon Inc., a subsidiary of J&J.
- Metal-on-metal hip implants like the ASR, which was recalled in 2010 and linked to a 40% five-year failure rate. Around 10,000 lawsuits were filed against DePuy Orthopedics, a subsidiary of J&J.
Hundreds of lawsuits have also been filed by people who were injured by power morcellators and medications like Risperdal and Invokana.
Source: Law360
Editor’s note: For more information about Risperdal lawsuits, please visit the Risperdal Class Action Lawsuit Page.