DePuy Faces Second Trial Over Alleged Defective Hip Implants In Chicago

DePuy Orthopaedics, a unit of Johnson and Johnson, has began fielding strong defense lawyers as the second trial over their alleged “defective” DePuy ASR hip system has already started hearing opening statements in the Chicago, Illinois courts.

After losing $8.3 million on March 8  with  the Los Angeles court jury decision over   the  ASR XL design, one of the two hip implants that was recalled in 2010, the jurors from Chicago heard opening statements in March 11 by Carol Strum’s lawyers. Fifty-four-year-old Strum, a nurse in Illinois, claims DePuy’s ASR hip was defective and the company failed to warn of risks. The case is considered as the second of 10,750 lawsuits against J&J, the world’s largest seller of health-care products, to go in court.

On March 8,  the first verdict against DePuy was announced in the California courts and awarded Montana retired prison guard Loren “Bill” Kransky compensatory damages of $8.3 million after suffering  from several symptoms of the faulty hip implant. Despite his age at 65, he took the risk of undergoing the revision which was considered by surgeons as the most difficult and painful way of surgery.

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Second DePuy ASR Hip Implant Trial Now Underway in IllinoisState Court

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

Important Things to Remember if you have a Metallic Hip Implant

If you have been implanted with a metallic hip joint implant for a fracture, osteoporosis, or arthritis, perhaps you have already heard about the negative complications related to it, as well as the controversial hip replacement recalls that have been issued out lately. Hip replacements, unlike your natural joints, do not last a lifetime and are prone to wearing away causing complications, orthopedic specialists say. For this reason, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have enumerated some useful information for metallic hip replacement recipients. Here are the most important:

Remember to keep your doctor’s appointments as frequently as your doctor has instructed. During your follow-up checkup, you may be assessed for device placement, degree of wound healing, signs of local and systemic infections and other unusual reactions that may suggest presence of complications. The number of times you will be asked to come to the clinic for evaluation will depend on the invasiveness of your procedure and the rate of your recovery.

Report discomforting symptoms such as thigh or leg pain, inflammation on the operated site, numbness on the pelvic area or the lower extremities, difficulty in flexing your new joints, and other problems related to ambulation. You need to relay this information to your physician as soon as it appears, so you will be thoroughly assessed at an earlier time and an early treatment may be considered.

Observe correct hip precautions as your physical therapist or orthopedic surgeon has recommended. This would depend on the type of surgical technique that was utilized during your surgery. With the traditional posterior or lateral approach, your surgeon may recommend you to restrict bending your hips at a 90 degree angle. For the less invasive anterior approach, you may be allowed to use your new joints immediately with lesser mobility restrictions.

You may also have to adjust your lifestyle to speed up your recovery or reduce the possibility of exposing your new joints to trauma. Engaging in weight management programs and practicing regular strengthening exercises that are gentle to the new joints are known to have positive effects on the durability of your artificial hip joints and the health of the tissues and nerves that surround it.

Avoid the risk of hip joint dislocations. These complications are most common in metallic hip implants. Although there have been newer designs (such as those built with larger femoral heads and longer stems) to prevent this, other complications such as metallosis and infections are also observed to have resulted from these new models. With larger femoral heads, the components may easily rub off metallic flakes causing irritation to the tissues nearby. It may cause an inflammation that may eventually trigger the displacement of the device, or it may lead to painful symptoms that require repositioning or removal of the implant. This type of surgery is called revision procedure, and it is often accompanied by the risk of bone fractures and nerve damage.

These complications can be quite frightening, but it may be prevented if managed at an earlier time. Complications may be identified early if you keep a constant communication with your doctor. It may also help if you know about the latest hip implant news and the new updates on the FDA recommendations for patients with metal-on-metal hip implants.

References:

medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247151.php

fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/MetalonMetalHipImplants/ucm241667.htm

nytimes.com/2012/02/15/business/hip-implant-the-fda-rejected-was-marketed-abroad.html?_r=1


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