A federal judge in Texas has ordered the FBI to investigate DePuy concerning witness tampering allegations concerning the bellwether DePuy hip implant lawsuit cases.
The witness tampering allegations concern a conversation between a DePuy sales rep and a surgeon who’s a witness in the case. Dr. David Stein filed an affidavit Oct. 15 documenting a conversation with Glen Swajger held ostensibly to discuss “a procedure requiring [Swajger’s] involvement.”
Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Shein, filed an affidavit claiming that a Depuy sales representative, Glen Swajger, approached him as he was scrubbing in for surgery and mentioned he was worried about ramifications for Dr. Shein’s practice after conversations that he had with Depuy attorneys.
“Mr. Swajger looked terrible and appeared stressed, so I asked him what was going on,” Stein said in the affidavit. “He said the day before (October 12, 2017), he had been contacted by the DePuy lawyers and that discussion made him anxious. He said the lawyers were ‘on him like crazy.’ They were putting ‘big-time pressure’ on him.”
Swajger then warned Stein of possible “ramifications” to his medical practice “in connection with my upcoming Dallas testimony,” according to the affidavit.
“He indicated the lawyers were ‘peppering him.’ He said the ‘business in Dallas was freaking [him] out.’ He said he had a ‘terrible’ day on Thursday as a result of this and my going to Dallas was driving him crazy. He said ‘I care about you,’” Stein said in the affidavit.
Dr. Shein had been scheduled to testify in the DePuy hip cases but that has been jeopardized due to his friendship and conversation with a DePuy sales representative.
If these allegations of DePuy witness tampering are proven true, the ramifications for the upcoming trial are significant. If true, DePuy and its parent company Johnson & Johnson it appears that the companies will stop at nothing to keep the truth from being revealed in a court of law.