Johnson & Johnson recently tried to dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit, which alleged the company had submitted false claims regarding their hip replacement prostheses.

A Massachusetts federal judge denied the attempt, which would have allowed DePuy Orthopaedics and its parent company to dismiss the revised False Claims Act lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin denied the bid without prejudice, keeping alive claims that the company had violated New York and federal false claims acts by submitting false claims to the government regarding the company’s metal-on-metal hip implants.

According to the False Claims Act lawsuit, DePuy and Johnson & Johnson misrepresented the efficiency of the metal hip implants and had caused doctors and other healthcare professionals to inadvertently file false claims for patients.

By allegedly making these metal-on-metal hip implants with exaggerated marketing statements, Johnson & Johnson sold numerous prostheses to doctors who requested the federal government foot the bill.

Johnson & Johnson tried to have the False Claims Act lawsuit dismissed, stating that the revised claim regarding the allegedly defective nature of their metal hip implants was not dependent on the federal government’s decision to cover claims.

However, Judge Sorokin denied the bid for dismissal, allowing the False Claims Act Lawsuit to continue.

Overview of False Claims Act Lawsuit

This False Claims Act Lawsuit was filed by whistleblowers Antoni Nargol and David Langton after discovering the company had allegedly misrepresented different facts about their metal hip implants. These facts included manufacturing process, the safety profile of the risk and benefit ratio, and the failure rates of the metal hip implants.

Nargol and Langton allege the federal government would not have paid claims for these metal hip implants if it had known about the falsehood of the marketing materials. Nargol and Langton previously filed the False Claims Act, but had to have their claim amended before being allowed to proceed with the litigation process.

The most recent filing of this False Claims Act was in October 2017, which stated that regardless of whether or not the Pinnacle metal hip implants were defective, Johnson & Johnson still made direct claims to federal and state government agencies. The company also allegedly caused healthcare providers to submit false claims.

Even though a lower court dismissed the False Claims Act lawsuit, a First Circuit panel revived the claim alleging indirect false claims against the government.

This allowed Nargol and Langton to refile their False Claims Act lawsuit, specifically focusing on the claims made to the government and not the allegedly defective nature of the metal hip implants.

Nargol and Langton are filing this False Claims Act lawsuit, seeking three times the amount of damages of the federal and New York government suffered. The whistleblowers are also seeking penalties between $5,500 to $11,000 per False Claims Act violation and $12,000 per New York False Claims Act violations.

For their involvement in reporting fraud to the government, whistleblowers could be eligible to receive 15% to 30% of whatever settlement is recovered.

This False Claims Act Lawsuit is Case No. 1:12-cv-10896, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.