Huge Pay Raise for J&J CEO While ASR Patients Worry About Their Future
Johnson & Johnson’s shareholders approve a healthy executive compensation plan for the company’s top executive: A $28.7 million dollar salary deal for CEO Bill Weldon. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, “61% of all shares voted were in favor of J&J’s pay policies.” This comes after a series of high profile product recalls in recent years, including the devastating worldwide recall of the DePuy ASR hip system.
But Johnson & Johnson is not letting the DePuy recall slow down its growth in the medical products market. According to the Associated Press, last week Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $21 billion dollars to buy Synthesis, a Swiss medical device maker in one of the corporation’s largest purchases ever. AP reporter Frank Jordans cites a recent statement made by CEO Bill Weldon: “Orthopedics is a large and growing $37 billion global market and represents an important growth driver for Johnson & Johnson.
With so much money at stake, it’s no surprise that DePuy continued marketing their cash cow orthopedic hip product for such a long time after orthopedic experts warned that the ASR hip had serious problems. Which just goes to show that your orthopedic problems are big business to DePuy and J&J.
