Johnson & Johnson will pay $120 million to resolve allegations that it used deceptive marketing techniques to sell its metal-on-metal hip implants, according to Bloomberg.
The claims, brought by 46 attorneys general, alleged J&J and its DePuy unit wrongly advertised that more than 90 percent of the devices lasted at least five years. European health regulators instead found the survival rates to be around 5 percent.
"Companies should never be allowed to freely mislead the public, especially when there are health concerns involved," New York Attorney General Letitia James told Bloomberg. "This settlement serves as an important message that deceptive and false medical practices will never be tolerated."
A spokesperson for the DePuy subsidiary said the company is not admitting liability or misconduct.
The settlement resolves litigation with 46 states.