Johnson & Johnson Defense Witness: Hurting or helping case?

(March 6, 2013) Right now the jury is on its third day of deliberations in the first US trial over the recalled DePuy ASR hip implant.  While the jury carefully re-examines thousands of exhibits, we’re also looking back at moments in the trial where things may not have gone the way Johnson & Johnson had hoped.

J&J Testimony Backfires

Testimony by Dr. Thomas Schmalzried, the California surgeon and lead designer of the recalled DePuy ASR metal hip implant, might have done more harm than good for Johnson & Johnson. Earlier in the trial, DePuy employees told the jury that company policy required all complaints about the ASR be forwarded to the company’s “vigilance and complaint department.”  When Dr. Thomas Schmalzried was asked if he had sent complaints to the vigilance and complaint department, Schmalzried replied, “they don’t have a vigilance department.” Schmalzried also testified that he no longer implants metal-on-metal devices.