Product News and Recalls

Recalls a factor in CEO’s departure

An Associated Press story about the imminent retirement of longtime Johnson & Johnson CEO Bill Weldon mentions his company’s succession of product recalls over the last two years.

Weldon became the company’s CEO in 2002.

According to the story, there were more than two dozen recalls of nonprescription drugs and at least two for prescription drugs since 2009.

There were also recalls of about 25 medical devices and consumer products. Federal regulators have had three of the company’s factories under scrutiny, and shut down one of them.

DePuy, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, issued a recall of their ASR hip implants in 2010. These implants are made from cobalt and chromium. During normal wear and tear, metal would rub against metal and release toxic debris into the body.

A typical implant is supposed to last for 15 years or longer, but an estimated one out of every eight patients who received one of those hip implants needed corrective surgery within five years.

DePuy continued to market the devices despite hundreds of complaints of early failure.

Physicians are now being directed to refer their patients to DePuy’s claims settlement company, Broadspire, but these “settlements” do not cover all potential damages or future injuries.

Contact Lopez McHugh for a free case evaluation  if you received a DePuy Orthopaedics hip implant and suffered injury.

See the AP story here: https://www.suntimes.com/business/10788489-420/longtime-johnson-johnson-ceo-bill-weldon-to-retire-in-april.html