At Home with Dr Christian Jessen - 292

| PROMOTION|

Failed hip
replacement?
If you've suffered the consequences of a defective metal-on-metal
hip replacement, a specialist lawyer can help you make a claim

H

ave you had problems
after a metal-on-metal hip
replacement? A number
of these hips have been
found to fail earlier than expected,
and to cause injury because of the
metal debris arising from day to
day wear between the metal surfaces
in these products.

At the present time, top 20 law firm Irwin
Mitchell, with its team of specialist product
liability lawyers, is handling claims against the
makers of the following hips and resurfacings:
*DePuy ASR and ASR XL hip prostheses
*DePuy Pinnacle hips
*Zimmer Durom hips
*BHR 42mm hips
*Corin Cormet hips
*Finsbury ADEPT hips
*'Mix/match' hips

Metal-on-metal hip failure

Over the last 40 years, hip replacement
techniques have been refined to the point
at which, by the turn of the last century,
the expectation of any patient was that
a new hip, if implanted properly, would
last 20 years or more. When the new
generation of metal-on-metal hips was
introduced in 2003, it was expected -
even taken for granted - that these would
have the same, if not better, performance.
One of the best-known examples is the
ASR implant system, which was introduced

around 2003 and remained in use until 2010,
when it was withdrawn by its manufacturer,
DePuy. These implants were marketed as:
*Suitable for young and more active patients
*Maximising 'bone and soft tissue preservation
for early intervention and fast recovery'
*Offering 'enhanced surgical precision for
easier and reproducible implantation'
*Promising 'advanced implant performance
for enhanced functional restoration'
*Having 'low wear from metal-on-metal bearing'
*Demonstrating low wear at the bearing
surfaces after more than 20 years of use
*Advancing current design, using technology
and instrumentation to produce a more reliable
and precise approach to early surgery
*Having a 'reduced wear rate compared with
a conventional total hip replacement (THR)'
These expectations were not borne out by
events. In fact, metal-on-metal hips began to fail
and had to be revised earlier than expected.

Defective product recall

In an internal Health Hazard/Risk Evaluation
prepared by DePuy dated 9 August 2010, the
recall of all ASR Implants was recommended,
the description of the hazard/risk being:
*'Early revision of the prosthesis due to
loosening or adverse tissue reaction'

'IN EVERY ONE
OF THESE CASES
IS A PATIENT WHO
HAS SUFFERED DUE TO
A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT
- CONSUMERS WITH
THESE PROBLEMS
NEED ACCURATE
LEGAL ADVICE'

*'The immediate consequence of cup loosening
or adverse tissue reaction is the necessity for
revision surgery to reverse impairment'
On 24 August 2010, DePuy voluntarily
recalled the ASR Implants, and an Urgent Field
Safety Notice was issued, which stated that:
'... the new National Joint Registry (NJR)
data shows a higher than expected revision
rate at five years...'
The reasons for revision given within
the NJR datasets include component
loosening, component malalignment,
infection, fracture of the bone, dislocation,
metal sensitivity and pain.
On 7 September 2010, the Medical
Health Regulatory Authority (MHRA) issued a
Medical Device Alert entitled 'DePuy ASR Hip
Replacement Implants'. As well as confirming
the basis of the company's product recall, this
referred to 'increased rates of revision' and
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