DePuy ASR MDL Litigation Update

A DePuy ASR Multi-district litigation status conference was held on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at the U.S. District courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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 three DePuy ASR cases pending in various state courts that are scheduled for trial in the coming months. These cases are not part of the MDL litigation in federal court but the outcome of the trials will provide valuable information.  The first DePuy ASR trial is set in Nevada state court in December 2012, the second case is set for trial in Maryland state court in January 2013 and the third case is set for trial in Illinois state court in February 2013.

Judge Katz discussed the trial selection process for the DePuy ASR MDL litigation. At this time, only certain cases that are pending in the MDL will be selected for trial.  Trial dates have been set in May 2013 and July 2013 for the MDL litigation.  A primary case and backup case will be set for each date.

The next status conference for the DePuy ASR MDL litigation is scheduled on July 25, 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio.