A DePuy ASR Multi-district litigation status conference was held on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at the U.S. District courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida. The conference was held before the Honorable David Katz, the judge overseeing the federal multidistrict litigation against DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. and Johnson & Johnson regarding the recalled DePuy Orthopaedics ASR hip replacement devices.

An overview of the current status of the litigation was presented at the conference.  There are approximately 4,200 cases pending in the MDL and approximately 2,100 cases pending in the consolidated state court actions in California, New Jersey and other state courts.

To date, DePuy and Johnson & Johnson have produced twelve document productions, totaling approximately 37 million pages. These documents are being reviewed by the Plaintiff’s Discovery Committee. Defendants have produced the majority of the documents requested.

Depositions of 22 DePuy and Johnson & Johnson employees have been taken and additional depositions are being scheduled.

The first DePuy ASR trial is scheduled to begin in Nevada state court in December 2012. Another DePuy ASR trial will take place in Maryland state court in January 2013.

Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel advised that the Explant Preservation Order will be amended regarding the preservation protocol for explanted tissue.

The next status conference for the DePuy ASR MDL litigation is scheduled on June 5, 2012 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.