DePuy Warned for Three Years About Defective Hips

Adelaide, AustraliaIssues surrounding DePuy Hip Replacement are not limited to the US. In fact, concern over the allegedly defective medical devices in Australia appears to pre-date that of North Americans. Even as the DePuy replacement hips were pulled from the Australian market before they disappeared in the US, it has been reported that the makers of DePuy ignored repeated warnings about its product.

As the November 3 issue of the Advertiser (Australia) points out, health authorities based in Adelaide warned DePuy Orthopaedics—a division of Johnson & Johnson—on 17 different occasions that there were problems with the prosthetic hips.

Professor Stephen Graves is the director of the National Joint Replacement Registry (NJRR), an Australian entity that collects data on replacement surgery. Graves said in comments published in the Advertiser that DePuy Orthopaedics was informed on "at least 17 different occasions" that there were concerns about the DePuy Hip system.

"It wasn't once or twice or just in the annual reports," he said. "I think if you talk to DePuy they'd probably say they should have handled it better.

"Clearly they're dealing with a prosthesis that isn't very good and they need to take responsibility for that."

Hip replacements are normally expected to last up to 20 years. However, many who received the DePuy medical devices prior to the Hip Replacement Recall encountered problems just a few years on—and in some cases, within a matter of months.

According to the December 2 issue of the Virginia HS Injury Law Blog, DePuy attempted to shift the blame to surgeons who, in DePuy's view, failed to follow directions for installation of the prosthetic hips. There was also some suggestion, it has been reported, that DePuy also attempted to shift liability to patients themselves for alleged negligence and carelessness on their part, thereby contributing to their own injuries and damages.

Dr. Graham Mercer, chair of NJRR and also vice president of the Australian Orthopaedic Association, noted that the NJRR is a world leader but still growing in reputation, and thus may not have been duly recognized as an authority by DePuy.

Dr. Graves, however, cuts to the chase when it comes to the DePuy Hip. "It is a complete untruth that DePuy did not have reason to withdraw the ASR [hip replacement implant] before now," said Dr. Graves. "We have been telling them since 2007, but they allowed it to be used on thousands of people."

Many a DePuy Lawsuit has been filed by disgruntled patients expecting their hips to last upwards of 20 years—only to fail far sooner.