Personal Injury Law

Might Have A DePuy Hip Implant? Here?s What To Do.

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

Our product liability lawyers at Levin & Perconti have been following the unfolding developments in the DePuy implant recall in an effort to raise awareness with potential victims. The recall affects nearly 100,000 implant packages, causing an untold number of patients to suffer failure of their devices. With so many potentially defective devices, many patients who received DePuy implants are unsure of what they should do.

First, if you have had a hip implant, be sure to contact your doctor to see if it was made by DePuy.

For those who discover that they were fitted with a recalled hip implant, many are wondering whether they have to wait for their own implant to fail before taking steps to contact a lawyer or seek redress. However, as emphasized by Lawyers and Settlement News, it is vitally important for all implant recipients to remember, that there is no need to wait for severe problems to arise before at least talking to a product liability lawyer. In that way you can learn about the latest developments in the recall effort.

In addition, the lawyer can assist you in getting tested for metallosis, which is a problem caused by metal shards entering the body. The shards are common in DePuy hip implants because of potential design defects caused by rubbing in the metal-on-metal device. Metallosis is a problem that an implant patient may be suffering from without even knowing it.

Of course it goes without saying that if you have a DePuy implant and begin feeling severe problems, you should seek medical attention immediately. Any pain in the hip, popping, grinding, or clicking might mean that the device is failing.

If that is the case, you may need revision surgery which involves potential complications and long recovery times. That revision procedure can be complex and painful. If that occurs, it is imperative that you contact a lawyer to learn more about the legal situation to protect your rights.

The DePuy company, a part of Johnson & Johnson, has already been alleged to have defectively designed the product, knowing that it would fail at higher rates. In addition they failed to adequately warn patients about the risks or conduct proper tests to ensure the safety of the devices.

Contact a lawyer for a consultation to share your story and learn about the legal landscape.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on October 26, 2010 (boomark / email).