Punitives Cut To $9M In 5 Pinnacle Hip Verdicts; Judge Won’t Stay New Trials

(July 13, 2016, 7:16 AM EDT) -- DALLAS — Two weeks after DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. and Johnson & Johnson filed a mandamus action with the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a Texas federal judge overseeing the Pinnacle hip multidistrict litigation affirmed $137.2 million compensatory verdicts for five plaintiffs, reduced their $360 million punitive award to $9 million and denied the defendants’ motion to stay future bellwether trials pending appeals of the five verdicts (Margaret Aoki v. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., et al., No. 13-1071, Jacqueline Christopher v. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., et al., No. 14-194, Donald Greer v. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., et al., No. 12-1672, Susan Klusmann v. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., et al., No. 11-2800, and Robert Peterson v. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., et al., No. 11-1941, In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2244, No. 11-md-2244, N.D. Texas)....