Johnson & Johnson Shareholder Sue Over $78 million Settlement For DePuy Bribery Scandal

Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) shareholders are furious. The company has had to pay out millions of dollars over recalls all over its hierarchy of subsidiaries, and it will face thousands of DePuy hip replacement lawsuits. Now, they have something else to be angry about. It turns out DePuy Orthopaedics made huge profits through a massive bribery scheme.

From 1998 to 2006, DePuy sent money to its Greek distributor, which then paid kickbacks to doctors in the Greek public healthcare system to purchase its implants. DePuy made $24 million in profits during this eight-year period. U.S. and U.K. officials quickly brought charges against the company, the former under its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which sanctions American corporations for conducting business overseas illicitly. On top of that the two countries charged J&J with another kickback scheme to gain contracts in the United Nation’s Oil-for-Food program in Iraq. Admitting no guilt, J&J settled the suits for $78 million.

The shareholders allege that J&J executives first learned of DePuy’s kickback plan when it was purchasing DePuy back in 1998, but J&J let it go ahead anyway. Then, J&J didn’t disclose the seriousness of the FCPA investigation to its shareholders in 2007. The shareholders’ complaint states, “In total, J&J earned over $24 million in profits by bribing Greek doctors to buy surgical implants. The company earned $4.3 million in Poland as a result of bribes, and another $3.5 million through illegal rewards in Romania.”

There is some overlap between the DePuy kickbacks and the release of its defective ASR XL Acetabular System and its ASR Hip Resurfacing System. One wonders how many Europeans received these faulty implants, and what will happen if they fail. As for those who were injured by the devices, neither DePuy nor J&J deserve your loyalty. If you want compensation for the harm they caused you, contact the Rottenstein Law Group to begin the process of filing a DePuy lawsuit against the manufacturer. Begin by clicking on this link or by submitting our contact form to the right.