DePuy: Complications, Lawsuits, and Revision Surgery

Last august a study was released that called attention to the fact that DePuy’s ASR hip replacement system caused a variety of very serious hip complications. Due to the findings of this study, DePuy Orthopaedics was forced to recall their hip replacement system. Statistics released by the study showed that 12% of people using the system had device failures within five years of receiving the implant. Other independent studies show an even higher failure rate than that. Thomas Joyce, a reader in biotriobology at Newcastle University, says that the rate may be as high as 50%.
These devices, which have been used in over 90,000 people worldwide, and which have been recalled, have sparked a massive amounts of lawsuits against DePuy.

ASR Hip Replacement System Complications

The complications that may arise from having a faulty ASR hip replacement system range from pain, clicking sounds coming from the device, moving problems, inflammation, and even swelling. These symptoms can pop up because of many things. It may happen because of loosening of the implant in which the device loosens from the bone it was attached to, it may happen because of bone fractures caused by the implant, or it may happen by the implant itself dislocating.
The most serious complication that can arise from a faulty implant is metallosis, which is metal poisoning of the bloodstream. This happens when the metal-on-metal portion of the implant fails and lets out metal into the bloodstream.

DePuy Lawsuits

Because of the extreme failure rates of DePuy’s products, many cases have been filed against them in the courts. In America alone, more than one hundred recipients of their products have filed a lawsuit against them in federal court and thousands more are expected by next year. These cases have been compacted into a process known as multidistrict litigation.

Hip Implant Revision Surgery

Surgery to repair the damage done by faulty implants is often risky and painful. Instead of dealing with a healthy patient and untouched bone, the surgeons have to deal with dead tissue and bone that has been chipped away. As for patients, the surgery has a very long recovery time, and can be much more painful than the initial procedure. An estimated 30,000 Americans will have to undergo this surgery due to DePuy’s faulty hip replacement system.