Legal Issues

Departing Johnson & Johnson CEO Weldon getting $143.5 million

Departing Johnson & Johnson Chief Executive Officer William C. Weldon, who is leaving after a spate of disastrous recalls, will get $143.5 million in retirement pay, according to Bloomberg.

Bloomberg reports that Weldon, 63, will remain chairman. He amassed $95.1 million in deferred and long-term compensation during his 40 years with the company, and his pension has a present value of $48.4 million.

The report mentions that the company struggled with recalls of artificial hip implants and over-the-counter drugs, and safety concerns ...

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Women at particular risk from faulty hip implants

Although metal-on-metal hip implants have high failure rates for both sexes, women in particular have suffered from receiving the faulty devices, according to a report in the Guardian.

U.K. joint replacement experts called for the metal-on-metal implants – where both the ball and socket are coated in metal – to be banned following the medical journal Lancet’s release of a report earlier this week finding “unequivocal evidence” of high early failure rates.

The research, based on the National Joint Registry of England ...

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Report accuses maker of recalled artificial hips, J&J, of hypocrisy

A report by the American Association for Justice accuses the corporation Johnson & Johnson of hypocrisy for lobbying to prevent individual lawsuits against the company, while suing others to further its goals.

J&J is a board member of the Institute for Legal Reform, an arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The ILR has the stated goal of “tort reform,” which the AAJ translates as an attempt to restrict “access [to] the civil justice system” by individuals.

But even as the corporation ...

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Consumer group calls for reform of FDA approval process

The independent nonprofit Consumer Reports has undertaken a national campaign to change the process by which the federal Food and Drug Administration approves medical devices, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.

Consumer Reports says the agency’s approval of metal-on-metal hip implants and transvaginal mesh implants – both of which have led to thousands of reported cases of debilitating health problems — illustrate why reforming the process is necessary.

According to the Tribune, Consumer Reports President Jim Guest sent an email ...

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Another report warns about metal-on-metal hip implants

A study published March 13 in The Lancet, one of the world’s most respected medical journals, calls on doctors to stop using metal-on-metal hip replacement devices because of concerns about high early failure rates and potentially toxic metal debris leaching off and getting into patients’ bloodstreams.

According to a report by CBS News, British researchers analyzed more than 400,000 hip replacements from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales between 2003 and 2011. They found that almost 6 percent of ...

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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 ...

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