DePuy Faces Hip Implant Lawsuits

New Orleans, LADePuy Orthopedics faces an increasing number of lawsuits alleging problems with its hip replacement. Following a recall of almost 100,000 implants, patients have filed lawsuits alleging that their DePuy hip implants have failed much more quickly than they expected, causing difficulty walking and pain. Many patients had to undergo replacement surgery to be fitted with new hip implants.

One lawsuit was recently filed in New Orleans, alleging that DePuy Orthopaedics failed to adequately recall its hip replacement device. According to the Louisiana Record on 9/30/10, Ida Mosley had hip replacement surgery in 2008 and has since experienced pain, soreness and difficulty walking. Due to the alleged failure of her hip implant, Mosley required revision surgery.

Mosely's lawsuit claims the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing Platform are prone to failure within two years of being implanted.

Meanwhile, 13 patients in Illinois and Indiana have joined a lawsuit against DePuy Orthopedics. According to the 9/23/10 issue of the News-Gazette, patients allege that DePuy knew about the risk of metallosis and the high revision rates in patients with the ASR prosthesis but failed to warn doctors about those risks.

The DePuy implants have a metal-on-metal design that is intended to last longer than traditional implants. Wear and tear on the implant caused by normal use, such as walking, is alleged to create metal debris that can spread to the patient's surrounding bone and tissue, a condition known as metallosis. The metal-on-metal design can also result in problems walking, popping or crunching sensations when walking, and pain when moving.

Hip implants typically last for about 15 years, at which point the patient may need to undergo revision surgery to implant a new device. Patients who experience failure of their hip implants at two years then undergo the revision surgery much sooner than anticipated and could eventually require a third surgery when the second device has failed.

Revision surgeries are not as simple as just replacing an implanted device. Each surgery is more invasive, increases bone loss and comes with higher risks of complication than the last.

Furthermore, each surgery could have a long recovery time, during which patients experience pain and difficulty walking.

In August, DePuy Orthopedics announced a voluntary recall of approximately 93,000 hip implants.