According to a story on the Huffington Post, Johnson & Johnson has lowered its planned bonuses for the company’s top executives by 10 percent.
A statement from the company acknowledges “disappointments” from 2012, and resultant damage to the company’s public reputation.
Johnson & Johnson’s annual proxy statement says, in part: “We worked to address several reputational challenges and continue to strive toward regaining the reputational standings that we expect of ourselves and our customers and shareholders expect of us.”
Yet since the beginning of 2013, the company continues to suffer disastrous public relations setbacks. Juries recently sided with the plaintiffs in two high-profile court cases involving Johnson & Johnson medical devices.
In the first of about 11,000 lawsuits to go to trial, a New Jersey jury awarded a woman $11.1 million to compensate her for injuries from a Johnson & Johnson vaginal mesh implant. Common complaints from the mesh implants include chronic pain, infection and organ perforation.
And a Los Angeles jury has awarded $8.3 million in damages in the first of about 10,000 lawsuits involving company’s ASR hip implants. A number of studies show nearly half of the implants break down and need replacement within six years. They’re also prone to shedding toxic metal debris in patients’ bodies.
Despite the scaling back of bonuses however, Johnson & Johnson executives are still well-compensated. According to the report, company CEO Alex Gorsky received total compensation worth $8.93 million last year – a 62 percent increase from the $5.52 million total he received in 2011.
You should consult with a doctor if you have any ongoing symptoms or health concerns from a Johnson & Johnson product. If you have significant injuries, you should also consult with a DePuy hip or transvaginal mesh lawyer to discuss your legal rights.
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