Problems Don't End with Failed DePuy Hip Revision Surgery

Chattanooga, TNOne aspect of DePuy Hip Replacement and the revision surgeries that often ensue following the premature failure of a hip implant is the dramatically higher risk for dislocation. But you rarely hear about it. In fact, says one attorney close to the issue, a study suggests that hip replacement patients having undergone revision surgery were near four times more likely to suffer a hip dislocation than those patients who have not.

The revelation adds yet another dimension to the issue surrounding new-age artificial hips that appear to be failing prematurely at an alarming rate. Were a patient—a DePuy Hip patient, for example—to experience a problem with the initial hip implant and then have successful revision surgery, there is still no guarantee of a successful outcome.

The patient, therefore, is never out of the woods. It could be argued further, following a hip implant failure and revision surgery that a patient might find himself even deeper in those woods.

The DePuy hip implant is among a collection of new-age artificial hips featuring a metal-on-metal design that are proving to be problematic for a growing number of patients. Many a DePuy lawsuit has followed.

A recent edition of the Business Wire (1/19/12) highlights the plight of a Tennessee man who underwent hip replacement in January 2006. Paul McCurley, who hails from Chattanooga, was soon having problems with his metal-on-metal hip. Among his medical challenges as the result of the problematic hip was metallosis, a condition resulting from the release of minute metallic debris from the metallic ball and socket of the artificial hip. When this debris is absorbed into the surrounding tissue and blood of a patient, painful inflammation occurs that could lead to infection.

In the case of McCurley, the problem with his DePuy Hip Replacement implant inhibited his capacity to walk.

A little more than five years later, McCurley required revision surgery to rid his body of the problematic DePuy hip. That was in September of last year. But now McCurley faces the potential for future complications, including a dislocated hip, as the result of his revision surgery.

Artificial hips are designed to last upwards of 15 years, and older medical devices have historically met that expectation. However, many of the later, modern-day hip implants—including metal-on-metal versions of DePuy hip implant—have begun to fail far sooner than expected, anywhere between 18 months and five years. Critics of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claim part of the problem lay with the approval process for updates to medical devices that are substantially similar to those already on the market.

That process, known as 510(k), excuses medical device manufacturers from the need for clinical trials and thorough pre-market testing.

McCurley is suing DePuy Orthopaedics and its parent, Johnson & Johnson, with the help of a DePuy hip lawyer. Many are calling for a hip replacement recall of the particular DePuy component related to the plaintiff's issue.