DePuy Should Face Hip Replacement Issues

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. Johnson and Johnson, through its DePuy Orthopaedics subsidiary, recalled its hip implant devices from different countries.
 
After information saying that the devices have defectsin one out of eight clients, the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System were withdrawn. There are about 93,000 recipients of these products worldwide.  These two implant designs have been manufactured and marketed since 2003.
 

In December 2009, DePuy pulled the devices off of the Australian market. It also announced the recall of these devices in August 2010, approximately eight months after recalling them in Australia. 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.
 
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.” He is the director of the National Joint Replacement Registry in Australia.
 
Legal professionals say that several clients have initiated court actions against Johnson and Johnson. They were among those affected by the failures and defects (e.g. fractures, displacements, loosening) of DePuy devices.
 
Below are some symptoms of a defective hip device:

· 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.

Furthermore, flawed hip implants may set down small pieces of toxic metal into the client’s circulatory system. The body tissues may possibly develop pseudotumors.

With lawsuits piling up worldwide, DePuy should duly address the hip replacement problems encountered by its clients.
 
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/