DePuy ASR Hip Failed Woman within Two Years

Rosemount, MNYet another example of the potential liability inherent with metal-on-metal replacement hip devices was borne out in a recent report carried in the Star Tribune (Minneapolis, 3/12/12) and the plight of Terri Wagner-Morley. The Minnesota woman received a DePuy hip replacement system, only to have it fail.

With her inability to move properly, Wagner-Morley's weight increased to 219 pounds. She was hopeful, and after receiving her DePuy ASR implant and following the initial healing phase, Wagner-Morley was ecstatic. "It felt great, I could move again," she told the Star Tribune.

Wagner-Morley was also pleased that her renewed mobility translated to a drop in her weight—down to 165 pounds in the course of a year.

But it didn't last, and she would soon be seeking out the services of a DePuy hip lawyer.

Wagner-Morley's experience is not unlike others who have received metal-on-metal hip implants to much fanfare, only to have them fail prematurely and require revision surgery. Many patients suffer pain from minute metal particles released via the gradual (but premature) wear and tear of the metal-on-metal hip. The potential for metallurgic toxicity to the bloodstream is also a concern.

Wagner-Morley tells the Star Tribune that she began to feel a "pop" in her hip. That soon led to pain, together with a corresponding drop in her activity level, and her weight climbed once again to pre-surgical levels.

Initially receiving her DePuy Hip in 2008, it had failed within two years.

A hip replacement recall undertaken by DePuy removed the DePuy ASR from the market in August 2010. This summer will thus be the two-year anniversary of that occurring, and the company has since urged all DePuy hip patients to have their metal-on-metal hips evaluated by a medical doctor.

The Star Tribune notes that 37,000 of the ASR hips were implanted in the US, according to a DePuy spokesperson. There are already thousands of lawsuits filed; with an expectation that more disgruntled DePuy patients will seek out a DePuy lawyer after the ASR hips become compromised far sooner than expected.

Doctors had to remove Wagner-Morley's problematic hip at the end of December, but an infection has prevented them from actually replacing the problematic DePuy hip. For now, the Minnesota woman is relegated to living with spacers in place where her hip would normally go. She can't walk as a result, and has zero mobility. She has turned to a DePuy hip lawyer for help.

Data from the United Kingdom suggested that 13 percent of patients with the ASR DePuy hip implant would need revision surgery within five years. That data played a large part in the decision to recall the DePuy ASR.