A new study has found that
newer artificial hips, including metal-on-metal varieties, offer patients few
advantages over traditional metal-on-polyethylene or ceramic-on-polyethylene
versions. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, also found that
people who received all-metal hip
implants were more likely to
require repeat surgery than those who received traditional implants. There are
also an increasing number of DePuy lawsuits involving the Pinnacle hip system, another metal-on-metal hip
implant by the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics. A number of
other artificial hip manufacturers also make all-metal implants, which have
also been the subject of product liability lawsuits. Lawyers have contended
that the DePuy ASR hip implant was promoted for a procedure that it was never
cleared by the FDA to be used for.
DePuy Lawsuits Goes To Supreme Court
In
the DePuy hip recall lawsuit, Janis Overrocker v. DePuy Orthopedics Inc., which
was filed by a DePuy hip lawyer on November 14, 2011 in the Superior Court of
Los Angeles County, Overrocker alleges that she will require hip revision surgery because her ASR hip device was used for articular
surface replacement surgery, a procedure for which, the plaintiff contends, the
implant was never actually approved by the FDA. A DePuy ASR hip replacement recall was issued in August 2010 for
approximately 93,000 of the metal-on-metal implants after data suggested that
about one out of every 8 may fail within five years. However, in September
2011, data from a British registry suggested that nearly 30% of the DePuy ASR
artificial hips may fail within six years.
DePuy Recall Complications
Although most people did not learn
about the risk of DePuy ASR hip replacement problems until the device
was pulled from the market, the first product liability lawsuit involving an
ASR implant was filed months before the recall. DePuy ASR recall litigation
lawyers have been investigating cases since March 2010, after a growing number
of orthopedic experts expressed concern that a design flaw increases the risk of DePuy hip complications, such as: unexplained hip pain, thigh pain or groin pain, pain
with walking, pain with weight bearing and swelling around the hip.
