Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Patients Poisoned and Seriously Disabled With DePuy Hip Implants


Because of the medical scandal that left several patients poisoned and seriously disabled, there may be changes soon in the way medical devices are approved for use in Australia, medical experts say. In the United States, the faulty articular surface replacement (ASR) hip made and marketed by DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of the Johnson & Johnson healthcare empire, had been recalled in 2010 due to several complaints of being defective and against which patients were seekingcompensation for the faulty medical products they had received.


DePuy issued worldwide recall and voluntarily withdrew it from Australia in 2009, but not before 93,000 patients worldwide, 5,500 of them Australians, had been implanted with the faulty hip and were among the 8,000 patients who filed a lawsuit against DePuy wherein several question been if there has been any out of court settlement for the asr hip.

Those people who usually undergo hip replacement are those who cannot bear anymore the hip pain caused by osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is an age-related “wear and tear” type of arthritis. Like other chronic conditions, it has no single, specific cause. Instead, there are several factors involved in the disease, including heredity and lifestyle. It usually occurs in people 50 years of age and older and often in individuals with a family history of arthritis.

A person suffering from osteoarthritis may vary, depending on which joint are affected and how seriously they are afflicted. The most common indications are experiencing stiffness, particularly, first thing in the morning or after resting, and pain. The most commonly affected joints are the lower back, feet and knees. When those joints are affected, the person may have difficulty in doing simple tasks such as walking, climbing stairs and lifting objects.

There are calls for an inquiry into the regulation of Australia's $4 billion medical devices industry following the recall of the faulty hip that left hundreds of Australians in unbearable pain. An increasing number of patients who had the hip implanted are having to undergo painful and complex revision surgery to remove the faulty hip.

Many, in addition, have experienced severe illness away from the hip, which some doctors and medical researchers attribute to metal poisoning from the joint.

Hundreds of Australians who had the faulty hip implanted are now joining class actions against DePuy Orthopaedics and Johnson & Johnson. For more information, check  The DePuy Hip Recall Center.



URL REFERENCES:
abc.net.au/news/2011-05-16/patients-reveal-agony-of-toxic-hip-implants/2694656
arthritistoday.org/conditions/osteoarthritis/all-about-oa/what-is-oa.php