The Reality of a Wonky Zimmer Hip

Mahwah, NJZimmer hip debate continues as to whether or not the Zimmer Durom Cup is defective. While it was briefly redacted from the market a few years ago after patients were complaining of failure, Zimmer focused on more stringent training for doctors and surgeons performing the procedure, rather than undertaking an outright recall of a device some view as defective. Those surgeons who have updated their training according to Zimmer criteria—and are willing to do so—have resumed implanting the controversial Durom Cup.

Others say that in deference to an estimated failure rate of about 5.7 percent is the corresponding 94.3 percent chance that the Durom Cup will succeed.

Still, the emergence of lawsuits against Zimmer over its Zimmer hip replacement system known as the Durom Cup suggests that there have and may continue to be problems with the prosthetic hip.

And not just the Durom Cup, either. Shirley, a Zimmer patient writing from Mahwah, New Jersey, noted in a submission to the Web site Topix in April that she had the Zimmer VerSys System ("titanium w/polyethylene liner non cement plasma sprayed"), and says she feels "awful…

"I strongly believe I have metallosis & discussed it with my doctor but she doesn't know where to send me for test! I have painful abrasions in my eyes. My forehead down to under my eyes is in pain. It feels like a weight is on my head. Hearing loss and ringing in my ears, always. Sometimes the ringing is very loud. Shooting pain through my head and ears. I wear glasses and the arms from the glasses on my ears, hurt. Nausea & dizziness. Memory loss, inability to find words, no comprehension."

Beyond that, Shirley indicated that her Zimmer hip was painful when she sits or bears weight. She's concerned about the increased levels of metallic toxicity in her blood.

Joe Dean Krack and Gerald Krack also had issues with a Zimmer Inc. hip replacement system—again, the VerSys system. Plaintiff Joe Dean Krack claimed that the Zimmer VerSys hip he received in July 2005 was defective and caused him pain, weakness and disability due to an issue with the femoral head associated with the device. Krack underwent revision surgery in October 2009; He filed a lawsuit against Zimmer in the fall of last year.

While pain can be expected immediately following surgery and in the days and weeks to come, such pain should eventually fade due to healing. However, with Zimmer Durom Cup hip replacement, such pain for some lingered for a greater period. Meanwhile, it has long been held that about 15 percent of artificial hips under normal use would require replacing after about 35 years.

Some feel the almost 5.7 percent failure rate for the Zimmer Durom Cup in patients who received the device prior to July 2008 remains excessive.