DePuy Hip Implant Recall Attorney
Our DePuy hip implant recall attorneys are available to investigate cases on behalf of individuals who have suffered as a result of the defective hip implant systems. Contact a hip implant attorney for information about your legal rights today.
Problems With the DePuy Hip Implants
DePuy hip implants inserted surgically in patients’ bodies are being recalled in relatively large numbers and the manufacturer is no longer selling them. New data are showing that the implants, already inserted into 93,000 patients, worldwide are failing at a high and early rate.
Two hip systems are being recalled. They are the:
- DePuy ASR™ XL Acetabular System
- DePuy ASR™ Hip Resurfacing System
Hip implants are generally supposed to last about 15 years. The DePuy (pronounced dee pew) prostheses are failing within two to three years. This means that thousands of patients must undergo revision surgery, which is another surgery, to correct the initial implant problem.
Within five years of receiving the hip prostheses, 12 to 13 percent of patients have needed revision surgery. That equals about one out of every eight patients.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been receiving complaints from orthopedic surgeons and patients of the implant failures for at least two years, the New York Times reported in March 2010. But, the manufacturer of the implants, DePuy Orthopaedics only recently recalled the devices. DePuy is a unit of Johnson & Johnson.
What Is An Artificial Hip?
An artificial hip consists of two main components:
- A replacement femur (thigh bone) with a ball part on top, similar to the natural thigh bone and femoral head
- A replacement acetabular cup, or cup-shaped device that the surgeon implants into a cup-shaped hollow in the pelvis, called the acetabulum
The primary problem seems to be occurring in the acetabular cups. They are:
- Coming loose
- Shedding metal debris, causing inflammation in the surrounding tissue. The debris also is showing up microscopically throughout the body in the blood stream, but the consequences of this are not yet known.
Patients needing to have revision surgery have had to endure:
- Pain of a failing hip
- Trauma of another surgical operation
- Expense of more surgery
- Pain of recovery from a second surgery
- Weeks of rehabilitation during which the patient must learn again how to sit, walk, stand, rise to a standing position, and other natural movements encountered in daily living
- Inability to work and the loss of income
- General incapacitation while the new implant heals
How A DePuy Hip Implant Recall Attorney Can Help
Patients and doctors have been aware for a number of years of problems with the DePuy transplant systems. These patients have had to suffer the results of defective implants and undergone all the trauma associated with another operation. In addition, while it was becoming evident that there were problems with the new hip implants, more implants of the same kinds of prostheses were being inserted done daily.
If you or someone you love has had to undergo the trauma, pain, suffering, and expense of hip revision surgery, you should talk to a DePuy hip implant recall attorney about your options for compensation. Contact us today for more information.
DePuy Hip Replacement Recall Information
DePuyHipImplantRecall.org intends to provide patients with up-to-date information about the recent DePuy hip implant recalls. For more information, please select from the following: