DePuy Hip Recall

DePuy Hip Recall

A recall of a defective device can be a double edged sword.  If there is a recall on your car, for example, you may feel good about the fact that your mechanical problem will be fixed for free by the manufacturer.  However, you may also be annoyed that your automobile was defective in the first place, irritated at the inconvenience of having to repair it, or lose faith in the quality of the brand.  Fortunately, you can usually take comfort in the fact that the mechanical part will be replaced quickly, after which you can move on with your life. Unfortunately, bodies are not like cars.  We cannot leave our body parts with a doctor while we sit comfortably in the waiting room. When devices such as the ASR artificial hip are recalled there is a great deal of physical pain and anguish among the victims of the faulty implants. Hip replacements have become a common medical procedure in the United States.  Failure in these devices can cause painful, crippling effects. If you received the ASR hip replacement implant, then call the Cincinnati personal injury attorneys of O'Connor, Acciani & Levy Co., LPA for a free consultation to learn about your rights. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc issued a recall of their ASR hip replacement system in August 2010.  The recall was issued because of several problems which caused the ASR system to fail at higher rates than normal.  Some of these problems are: Dislocation:

• The moving parts of the implanted device become misaligned and no longer move together properly causing pain and difficulty walking.

Fractures:

• The bones to which the implant is attached may break.

Sensitivity:

• Patients may feel a higher sensitivity, pain, aching and soreness from the metal in the hip implant.

Metallosis:

• Tiny pieces of chromium and cobalt are shed by the device as it deteriorates that could cause blood poisoning.

Loosening:

• The implant is not tightly secured to the bone causing pain and difficulty walking.

The ASR system was designed to last for 15 or more years.  However, many of these devices were failing within only a few years of being implanted.  When the recall was announced, Johnson & Johnson stated that the devices early failure rate was 12% to 13%.  However, a recent article from the New York Times revealed that The National Joint Registry for England and Wales had discovered that the failure rate was actually up to 29%. Though this British registry does not track patients in the United States, there are plenty of reasons to pay attention to their findings.  The first reason is that an equivalent organization which tracks hip replacements does not exist in this country.  The second reason is that hip replacements are far more common in the United States than in other countries.  Almost half of all ASR devices sold worldwide were sold in the United States. Call us toll free for a free legal consultation at (877) 288-3241, or fill out our contact form.