Defective Hip Replacement Products Now Facing Federal Scrutiny

Injuries related to defective hip replacement products are climbing and now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is getting involved. In response to mounting concerns about the safety of metal-on-metal hip implants and a growing number of hip replacement recall lawsuits, the FDA just announced it will subject the devices to a two-day expert review that could lead to rigorous new standards. That’s good news for consumers who received defective hip implants during hip replacement surgery. An FDA’s advisory panel is set to meet June 27-28. The panel will gather input from scientists, researchers, patients and medical practitioners to help regulators decide whether to impose new testing standards and review requirements to be met before a device can be sold in the United States. Hip replacement surgery is a common, costly procedure; about 270,000 surgeries are performed each year in the US. Hip replacement surgery is intended to provide greater mobility and alleviate pain for people with joint problems, including arthritis. But evidence has been growing for years that all-metal hip implants fail at higher rates than systems that use other materials. Patients who receive them have also been shown to have high concentrations of metal ions in their blood. DePuy, for example, is recalling the ASR™ XL Acetabular Head System and DePuy ASR™ Hip Resurfacing System. If you received a DePuy Hip Implant anytime since 2003 you may have an ASR Hip Implant system in place. The DePuy company may have known about problems with its product for some time. The ASR implants were taken of the market in Australia in 2009. Earlier this year the company warned doctors of the higher than expected failure rate of these products. Finally the company issued a recall. According to the companies own internal findings greater than 10% of people receiving these devices required a subsequent surgery. Here are the warning signs for a potentially defective hip implant: * Unexplained Hip Pain * Thigh Pain or Groin Pain * Pain with Walking * Pain Rising from a Seated Position * Pain with Weight Bearing If you believe you were injured by a DePuy, Zimmer or Johnson & Johnson implant, you need an experienced defective products attorney. Our firm has years of experience with defective products and medical malpractice. For a free consultation or to find out if you may have a defective hip replacement device, call our experienced legal team at 1-800-FL-Legal (355-3425).