Australian to Join US Legal Action over DePuy Hip Replacements

Queensland, AustraliaAn Australian grandfather who had a DePuy hip replacement is planning to join US legal action against the medical device company.

Bob Lugton had a DePuy artificial hip implanted in 2008 but will have to have the device replaced next month, according to the Courier Mail.

DePuy Orthopaedics, which is owned by Johnson & Johnson, recently recalled two versions of its ASR artificial hip implant because of a high early failure rate. It is estimated that the faulty hip replacements were implanted in 93,000 people worldwide.

''The problem is it's a metal-on-metal hip and it's wearing and releasing metal particles, cobalt, into the blood,'' Lugton told the news source. ''The body then sets up an inflammatory process, trying to reject the cobalt, and in doing so, it rejects bone tissue with it. I've got significant bone loss in my femur.''

Australian attorney Rebecca Jancauskas said the hip implants had the "hallmarks of becoming one of the biggest medical stuff-ups Australia has ever seen."

''The US law firm we're working with has obtained research indicating that the failure rates for this particular prosthetic hip are higher in Australia than anywhere else,'' she told the news provider.

Lugton informed the Courier Mail that he was told to expect a 10 to 15 percent loss of mobility after his operation next month.