A Texas judge Tuesday limited damages against Johnson & Johnson's DePuy unit in a lawsuit involving allegedly defective metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implants, which were pulled from the market in 2013, according to a report from Reuters.
U.S. District Court Judge Ed Kinkeade cut the damages from $500 million to $151 million, but rejected the companies' bid for a new trial, according to the report. The five plaintiffs and their spouses were awarded $360 million in punitive damages and $140 million in compensatory damages in March, according to the report.
Friction between the metal components in the hip implants allegedly releases ions into the bloodstream, which can cause tissue death, bone erosion and high levels of metal in the blood, according to the report. The companies have denied wrongdoing in developing and marketing the Pinnacle devices, and are still hoping for the verdict to be overturned in an appeal, according to the report.
The companies face about 8,400 lawsuits in relation to the Pinnacle hip implants. This was the second trial they have completed, and a third will be held in September. Johnson & Johnson was cleared of wrongdoing in the first case, according to the report.
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