Hip Replacement Surgery Problems

Medical and legal experts estimate that hip failures may cost taxpayers, insurers, employers and others billions of dollars in coming years, contributing to the soaring cost of health care.  The New York Times reported about the costly sum of hip replacement surgeries.

DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. is recently facing various lawsuits filed by law firms in UK, US and Australia, in behalf of patients who underwent hip replacement operations. DePuy is a subsidiary company of Johnson and Johnson, which issued a worldwide recall of their products.

There are around 93,000 recipients of the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System worldwide. After the release of data presenting defectiveness in one out of eight patients to whom they were implanted, the two devices were pulled back.  Factory production and sale of the two prosthetic items started in 2003.

DePuy took the implants out from the Australian market  in December 2009. In August 2010, DePuy carried out a worldwide recall. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have taken notice of negative feedback from DePuy clients between 2008 and the time of its recall announcement. Many of these clients need a second hip replacement surgery.

The Director of the National Joint Replacement Registry in Australia, Dr. Stephen Graves, says “It is a complete untruth that DePuy did not have reason to withdraw the ASR before now; we have been telling them since 2007, but they allowed it to be used on thousands of people.”

Legal professionals say that several clients have initiated court actions against Johnson and Johnson.  They were the suffering victims of DePuy product failures and defects, among them displacements, fractures and loosening.

The signs of artificial hip device defect include:

• Swelling
• Pain bearing weight
• Pain when rising from a seated position
• Pain while walking
• Pain on the thigh or groin area
• Pain on the hip area

Extreme cases happen wherein the hip products completely fail, resulting in more critical heath issues. This happens when:

• the device is not attached to the bone correctly;
• the unit is dislocated and misaligned;
• the bone around the implant is fractured.

Moreover, defective hip devices may deposit tiny pieces of toxic metal into the patient’s bloodstream. The body tissues may possibly develop pseudotumors.

According to legal observers, the DePuy hip replacement recall should serve as a lesson to other device manufacturers to strengthen and certify the safety of their products.

References:
bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-03/johnson-johnson-sued-over-recalled-implanted-hip-replacement-devices.html
arthritistoday.org/news/asr-depuy-hip-replacement-recall078.php
nursinghomesabuseblog.com/defective-products/defects-with-depuy-hip-replacement-hardware-may-be-responsible-for-complications-following-hip-surgury/