A federal judge on Jan. 24 rejected Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics' bid to make two orthopedic surgeons pay $2.4 million after their whistleblower case related to the company's Pinnacle hip implant portfolio was tossed.
Johnson & Johnson was awarded reimbursement for some expenses related to the case, but the judge ruled that ordering U.K.-based Drs. Antoni Nargol and David Langton to pay the devicemaker's attorney fees "as an additional punishment would be excessive," according to court documents.
The surgeons' case was dismissed in December as a sanction for the misuse of confidential records. Both surgeons previously served as expert witnesses in a multidistrict litigation related to the hip implants and violated court orders by using information from those cases in their whistleblower suit.
The judge awarded Johnson & Johnson other fees, including some printing and docketing costs. The exact amount will be determined later.