Personal Injury Law

Concerns expressed over metal on metal hip implants

With the recent blogs about the DuPuy hip implant recalls, the Chicago product liability lawyers at Levin & Perconti found some pertinent articles on other hip implant concerns. Earlier this year, in March 2010, The New York Times addressed metal on metal hip implants. Some orthopedic surgeons have cut or completed stopped using the popular artificial hips after concerns raised that the devices cause severe tissue and bone damage in some patients. When the tissue and bone damage occurs, the hip replacement requires revision surgery within a year or two. Metal on metal hip implants have become widely used with the belief that they would be more durable than prior types of plants. One orthopedic surgeon reported that they have seen soft-tissue destruction and destruction of bone from the faulty metal on metal hip implants. These artificial hips, intended to last 15 years or more, need early replacement far more frequently for reasons like dislocation than because of problems caused by metallic debris. Surgeons say that when medical particles are the culprit, procedures to replace the devices can be far more complex and can leave some patients with significant complications. Doctors have been injured to use the metal on metal devices only with great caution, if at all.

Recently, in August 2010, DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, issued a voluntary product recall for their hip replacement systems, the ASR XL Acetabular System and DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System. DePuy issued the DePuy hip implant product recall after studies found that patients who had received the hip implants suffered from collateral symptoms such as swelling and difficulty walking and often had to undergo revision surgery.

Follow the link to the New York Times to read more about the metal on metal hip implants.

Full post as published by Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog on October 15, 2010 (boomark / email).