Product Liability Lawyer Blog
Jurors overseeing the bellwether case involving Wright Medical’s Conserve Plus metal-on-metal hip implant in a federal case in Georgia have decided in favor of plaintiff for $11 million. That award, granted to a retired ski instructor, allows for $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.
The former is intended to compensate the victims for actual losses, while the latter is supposed to punish defendant for an egregious violation.
This was an important decision because it was the first trial in a multi-district litigation pending before the Atlanta-based court. There are 440 other cases similar to this one pending before U.S. District Judge Bill Duffey. In addition to those, there are hundreds more pending against the same defendant in a state court in California. Continue reading