Last week, a $1 billion verdict was reached in the third bellwether trial over an alleged Pinnacle hip implant defect.

The two-month trial came to an end on Nov. 30, and the jurors deliberated for less than a day before delivering the massive verdict in favor of the six plaintiffs.

The jury found that Johnson & Johnson and DePuy negligently designed the metal hip implant and failed to warn about the dangers associated with the shedding of metal from the Pinnacle Ultamet hip implant into the bloodstream.

The jurors awarded between $4 million and $6 million per plaintiff to compensate them for their pain and suffering as well as their physical injuries.

The $4 million awards will go to four plaintiffs who had one hip replaced, and the $6 million award will go to the two plaintiffs who had both hips replaced. The jury also awarded $1 million to each of the four spouses named in the litigation to compensate them for loss of consortium.

The verdict also involves $504 million in punitive damages against J&J and DePuy, as the jurors determined the companies had acted with malice or fraud. The jurors found the companies to be liable for negligent design defect, negligent failure to warn, strict liability failure to warn, negligent misrepresentation, intentional misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment and failure to recall.

The plaintiffs were each awarded $84 million in punitive damages. Because the plaintiffs are from California, a punitive damages cap that reduced a $502 million verdict in the second bellwether trial will not apply.

Johnson & Johnson won the first bellwether trial that involved one hip implant plaintiff from Montana.

DePuy has indicated that it plans to challenge the jury’s verdict.

Metal Hip Implant Complications

Metal-on-metal hip implants have been associated with a wide range of adverse effects, including leaking of toxic substances into the bloodstream, loss of bone strength, cobalt poisoning, pseudotumors, cancer, metal poisoning, and hip implant failure.

Many plaintiffs who have suffered these adverse effects have taken legal action against the device manufacturers, complaining that they knew the metal hip implants were dangerous but failed to warn about the risks.

Johnson & Johnson has been accused of knowing that the Pinnacle Ultamet hip implant released metal particles into the bloodstream, but continued to aggressively market the device even though it was more dangerous than other hip implants on the market.

The next bellwether trial is scheduled to take place in September 2017. That hip implant lawsuit involves a total of 10 plaintiffs from New York who received metal hip implants made by J&J.

The plaintiffs are represented by W. Mark Lanier of The Lanier Law Firm, Richard Arsenault of Neblett Beard & Arsenault, Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC and Khaldoun Baghdadi of Walkup Melodia Kelly & Schoenberger.

The Hip Implant MDL is In re: DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 3:11-md-02244, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.