Johnson and Johnson is facing more legal trouble related to their hip products.
There are currently more than 8,000 suits for the DePuy Orthopaedics products manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.
In the past, the company has lost one trial involving the device and won another where the courts ruled in the manufacturer’s favor.
In the new case, the victim claims to have “suffered substantial injuries and damages” from the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary manufactured hip implant.
This comes less than a month after a federal jury in Dallas ordered Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopaedics unit to pay more than $1 billion to plaintiffs who claimed they were injured by Pinnacle hip implants.
The Indiana man filed the lawsuit in Middlesex County Superior Court on Dec. 9, the new suit alleges that the metal-on-metal version of the product is defective. As a result of defects, metal particles move into a recipient’s bloodstream and tissue after wear and tear.
Airbag manufacturer Takata has been in the news over the course of the past few months as scrutiny of their malfunctioning airbags has increased. The company recently settled one of their lawsuits with a family who had a member paralyzed and later die to to injuries caused by the airbag. The settlement was made just moments before a hearing was supposed to take place where the judge could have made Takata executives testify in court. Many people were surprised at the settlement, including the lawyer representing the family of the victim, Patricia Mincey.
Mincey was paralyzed from the neck down after the Takata airbag in her 2001 Honda Civic forcefully inflated after a collision on June 15, 2014. The airbag was among those recalled by Honda less than a week later.
Takata’s airbags have caused several deaths and numerous injuries to drivers and passengers, causing automakers to recall nearly 60 million vehicles in the US alone.
While the exact numbers on the settlement have not been released, Takata has handled all of their previous lawsuits with swift action. The company is currently trying to repair their image and restore consumers confidence in their products. With airbags being a vital safety component in any car, it may take the company a very long time to be trusted by car drivers and manufacturers alike.
According to a New York Times Article, the mass recalls of Takata airbags gained new urgency last month, when federal safety regulators warned that airbags in more than 300,000 older Honda and Acura vehicles were at an unacceptably high risk of exploding and needed to be replaced immediately.
Takata also faces a class-action lawsuit brought by owners of affected cars and is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.
Airbags are safety devices found in just about every vehicle on the road in the United States. Their intention is pure, they are intended to keep vehicle occupants safe in the event of a collision. Although they usually do, like anything else airbags can fail to operate as intended. At times, due to defective designs, automotive companies may issue an airbag recall. This happens when they fail to keep vehicle occupants safe. When passengers suffer an injury or death due to an airbag malfunction, they may be entitled to compensation.
Takata Recall
Airbags in general are not a dangerous. The Department of Transportation reports that, in the last 30 years, frontal airbags have saved more than 37,000 lives. (Photo Credit: Melissa Clark)
Airbag recalls are common. Recently, Honda, the Japanese automobile manufacturer, came clean. They revealed that they had knowledge of defective airbags produced by Takata, years before informing federal regulators and triggering a massive airbag recall.
The airbags in question have exploded during impacts and caused serious injuries and deaths. Takata is an automotive parts company that provides products such as airbags for major car manufacturers. Although Honda is believed to have been most impacted, the defective airbags plague more vehicles than Takata originally suggested in 2013.
In 2015, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a list to the public of 14 other automakers impacted by the Takata airbag recall. That equals 28 million vehicles with unsafe airbags. Globally, 10 deaths (most in the United States) and more than 100 serious injuries have been linked to these faulty airbags. From burns to air bag chest injuries or death, trauma from airbags are a serious matter.
Recall History
Airbag recalls are nothing new. In 2014 Nissan recalled close to 1 million vehicles due to faulty airbags. Now, over one year later, federal regulators suggest that that they have not made the necessary changes. Many other airbag producers and automakers face legal liability when injuries and death are caused by airbags. In reference to the Takata recall, only about $7.5 million airbags have been repaired, the probability of future injuries remains high.
Airbag Recall Compensation
Replacing these airbags are estimated to cost up to $24 billion dollars. That does not include the coming legal obligations that Takata and automakers might face for medical liabilities. Airbags in general are not a dangerous. The Department of Transportation reports that, in the last 30 years, frontal airbags have saved more than 37,000 lives. That does not undermine the thousands of individuals have sustained injuries in the last 10 years, some of which are ignored or misdiagnosed.Whether an injury was caused by the Takata airbag or any other legal action may be necessary. If you or a loved one have experience serious bodily injury or death, due to an airbag malfunction, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
