LOS ANGELES (AP) — Opening statements are set in a Los Angeles lawsuit that claims medical giant Johnson & Johnson knowingly marketed a faulty hip implant that left thousands of people with crippling problems or needing replacement surgeries.
The fraud and negligence suit moving forward Friday is the first of thousands to reach trial in the United States.
They involve an all-metal ball-and-socket joint that was implanted in some 90,000 people worldwide before Johnson & Johnson recalled the product in 2010.
The New Jersey-based company denies the allegations of bad design and fraud but it has set aside around $1 billion to deal with the costs of the recall and lawsuits.
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