Posts Tagged ‘ DePuy Orthopaedics Metal Hip Replacement ’

Should the FDA Share Some of the Blame on DePuy?

December 14th, 2010. By Hunter West

Earlier this month it was announced that all pretrial proceedings for lawsuits centered on the recalled DePuy hip replacement system, will be heard before a single judge in Toledo.

While there are about 150 lawsuits so far, those in the know expect that number to grow to well beyond 1,000. More than 30,000 patients in the US received the complete DePuy hip replacement system that is seen to be failing in a large number of cases, since it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2005.

Surely Billy Joel expects his hip replacements to last more than 5 years…

I’ll get back to the FDA in a moment. But imagine, if you will, the frustration borne by hip replacement patients realizing that medical products designed to last 20 years, are failing after only a few.

Let’s remember that individuals who are getting hips now, are by and large more active than our fathers and grandfathers at a similar age. We’re not ready for the nursing homes at 50, or 60 or even 70. There are people who are running, skiing, even competing in various sports well into their 80s.

For the remainder of us not inclined toward athletic pursuits, we remain by and large much more active than our forefathers.

Look at Billy Joel. He is still a relatively young man at 61, is he not? In the last two weeks he received a double hip replacement. We fully expect to see him dancing up there on the stage in no time, and I’m sure he expects to have that capacity for the next 20 years if he so chooses.

That’s the point—the expectation. Twenty years is the expectation.

Not five.

So pity the patient, in his 50s who receives a hip and rather than the promised 20-year lifespan, is met instead with pain and suffering, together with a second surgery just a few years on.

Little wonder the expectation is for so many lawsuits over the recalled DePuy system.

That said, I hope the FDA gets some of the blame…

Here’s why.

Our country’s great overseer of all things drug and medicinal employs this little-known rule Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: DePuy, DePuy ASR Hip, DePuy Orthopaedics Metal Hip Replacement
Posted in Emerging Issues | 5 Comments »

Did your DePuy Hip Surgeon Receive Compensation from DePuy?

December 7th, 2010. By AbiK

I came across an interesting article yesterday over at Connecticut Health I-Team (C-HIT), a non-profit publication focusing on health and safety issues. The article was about the DePuy ASR Hip replacement, and the hip recall—and sure, there’s been an onslaught of news about DePuy, but this article was one of the few I’ve seen that actually published the list of surgeons who’ve received compensation from DePuy Orthopaedics. The list includes around 200 surgeons nationwide who received a total of over $80.8 million.

To be fair, the list is available over at the DePuy company website—but you have to work for it a bit. It’s not only down at the bottom navigation on the homepage in grey mice type (translation: not exactly the mose legible), but it’s also arranged as an alphabetical click-through by the doctor’s last name. I didn’t see an actual downloadable file of the complete list—and that’s where C-HIT comes in—they did that legwork.

Now, I’m not saying that any of those surgeons necessarily chose to use the DePuy ASR Hip in patients when perhaps a better hip implant would’ve been a more prudent choice. What I am saying though is that the practice of pharmaceutical companies compensating doctors—for consulting, speaking gigs or whatever—does begin to put into question just how independently or free-from-influence a doctor can truly be when making decisions regarding patient care—when he’s been compensated by the very companies that provide the menu of treatment options available to him, and therefore, his patients?

So, for those of you who are curious, this is the list that was published by C-HIT, by state. Click to read on… Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: DePuy ASR Hip, DePuy Hip Recall, DePuy Orthopaedics Metal Hip Replacement, DePuy Surgeon
Posted in Drugs/Medical | 10 Comments »

DePuy Hip Replacement Signs of Trouble

November 12th, 2010. By AbiK

One of the most interesting things I’ve come across while reading some DePuy ASR Hip Replacement recall message boards is that many hip replacement patients don’t seem to even know what hip implant they received. The upshot of that is that, at the least, they have no clue what’s been put inside their bodies, and at the worst, if there is a problem with the implanted medical device, they may not know it—or news of such must rely on a string of communications from manufacturer to health provider to patient—and that’s if you’re lucky.

So news of the DePuy hip implant recall may—or may not—have reached those who actually have received the ASR hip replacement—and that’s not an ideal situation for such a serious recall.

The DePuy hip replacement recall was for about 93,000 units of the DePuy ASR Hip (manufactured by DePuy Orthopaedics). While some online reports were suggesting that upwards of 80,000 DePuy ASR Hip patients may ultimately need hip replacement revision surgery, studies have been done that suggest the rate of hip revision surgery is more in the range of 12-13%—meaning that one in twelve to thirteen DePuy Hip patients may well need hip revision surgery within five years of having their initial DePuy hip replacement surgery.

So if you’re one of those patients—one of the 12-13%–how would you know it?

From actual reader comments, it sounds like one of the main symptoms is the inability to squat—at least not to the full range that you should be able to post-surgery and post-therapy. There have also been first-hand reports of things like still using crutches for much longer than the usual timeframe anticipated post-hip replacement surgery. But the main signs to look for—those that appear to be consistent among patients with a defective DePuy ASR hip implant are these:

• Pain—or continued pain—in the hip, leg, lower back or groin area, after the appropriate healing time has passes
• The feeling that something is “loose” in your hip
• A “clicking” sound in the hip area
• The feeling that the hip is slightly dislocated or not fully connected while in motion, particularly when standing up or lowering oneself, or during general leg/hip movements
• The inability to fully move within the normal range of one’s physical activity

Given that DePuy lawsuits have been filed, and that seeking legal help may be the only way for someone who’s received a defective DePuy hip replacement to ensure that they get any damages that may be awarded to them, if you’ve had hip replacement surgery and are experiencing any of the above symptoms and they don’t appear to be going away, you should first contact your doctor and/or surgeon to find out the manufacturer and make of the hip implant you received. If it was indeed the DePuy ASR hip, you should most likely speak with an attorney who specializes in DePuy hip lawsuits.

Tags: DePuy ASR Hip, DePuy Hip Recall, DePuy Hip Replacement, DePuy Lawsuit, DePuy Orthopaedics, DePuy Orthopaedics Metal Hip Replacement
Posted in DePuy ASR Hip Recall, Emerging Issues | 30 Comments »

Criminal Medicine: Best Defense, Sadly, is a Good Offense

October 6th, 2010. By LucyC

If finding the right medication feels a bit like a minefield lately, it’s no wonder.

It’s not been a banner time for Pharma—these past few years. So many drugs and medical products in general seem to be linked with serious, if not life-threatening adverse events. You may recognize some of the names on the hit parade: drugs such as Accutane and a possible link with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); proton pump inhibitors (antacid drugs) and increased risk for hip fractures; Reglan and its link with Tardive Dyskinesia; Byetta—a diabetes medication linked with kidney failure… 

And of course no list would be complete without Avandia—another diabetes medication—and its infamous association with serious, sometimes fatal cardiovascular events. 

Oh—there’s also allegations surrounding the class of antidepressants known as SSRIs and links with newborn heart defects. In fact the list is exhaustive.  

And to be clear, it’s not just drugs. Products such as the DePuy metal hip replacement are also in trouble. DePuy is currently facing a class action lawsuit over failure rates seen with its ASR acetabular cup. DePuy, which is owned by Johnson & Johnson, has also had global product recalls.

Gadolinium is another one. It’s a clear, non-radioactive chemical compound used with patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). In 1988 the FDA approved gadolinium as a contrast agent to provide a clearer picture of organs and tissues. Since that time, more than 200 cases of Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) or Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD) have been linked to the product. 

This week, news out on Bloomberg indicates that the powers that be at Pfizer Inc, ‘failed to properly warn doctors and consumers that its Prempro menopause drug could cause Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Accutane, Avandia, Byetta, DePuy, DePuy Orthopaedics Metal Hip Replacement, Drugs, Gadolinium, Medical, Norian SRS, Prempro, Proton Pump Inhibitors, Reglan, SSRI
Posted in DePuy ASR Hip Recall, Drugs/Medical | No Comments »