Personal Injury Law

The Latest on DePuy; Recall Highlights Medical Implant Problems

By Jamie G. Goldstein

An artificial hip implant produced by DePuy Orthopaedics, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, has been recalled on a massive scale and now the implants checkered past is coming to light according to a recent New York Times article. The Articular Surface Replacement (A.S.R.) implant was supposed to be a technological breakthrough in the hip replacement field, but soon problems started being reported of extreme pain at the implant location. Doctors and surgeons began to stop using the implant because of its high failure rate. Yet, DePuy continued distributing the A.S.R. implant claiming it was effective. Unlike drugs which have to undergo clinical trials, implants can be sold if they resemble another similar implant already on the market. This 'loophole' allowed the A.S.R. implant to be distributed while bypassing any extensive testing.

Although DePuy claims they have dealt with the recall appropriately, when DePuy first announced that they were taking A.S.R. off the market, they failed to admit the product was defective, instead saying that it was due to poor sales. The real reason sales were poor was doctors and surgeons had stopped using an implant that they knew was harming their patients. There is no way of knowing how many implants have been used because DePuy does not keep the numbers, but estimates range around 100,000 implants worldwide. One version of the A.S.R. implant that was sold was never even approved by the FDA. Furthermore, orthopedic companies are not required to warn consumers that devices include both approved and unapproved designs elements. The A.S.R. implant was approved mostly on tests done on another hip implant, the Ultima, which had fundamentally distinct components.

The A.S.R. implant's ball and cup design, meant to mimic a real hip bone, was designed defectively. This caused severe pain in recipients and in some cases, metal filings from the device were released into their bodies causing increased levels of cobalt and chromium in the bloodstream. The only solution to the pain is another painful and costly hip replacement surgery. In some cases the bone and nerve damage from the DePuy implant was so severe patients permanently lost their ability to walk or stand. It's little wonder with results like these lawsuits are cropping up across the country.

If you believe you have a defective DePuy A.S.R. hip implant, contact your doctor or surgeon regarding removal. Your doctor can also advise you on preservation of the device should you want to move forward with legal action against DePuy.

Full post as published by Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer on January 11, 2011 (boomark / email).