Hip Replacement

DEPUY HIP REPLACEMENT RECALL

If you have undergone a hip replacement operation in the last 8 years you may need a replacement operation due to faulty DePuy products being implanted.

We are acting for patients who have received these faulty hip replacements at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and are investigating the use at a number of other hospitals in the areas of Kirklees, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield.

This is due to the DePuy issuing a world wide recall of ASR. ASR XL acetabular is a system for a total hip replacement and the ASR hip resurfacing system ("ASR”).

DePuy is a subsidiary company of Johnson & Johnson and after issuing a worldwide recall of ASR, has confirmed that it intends to cover reasonable and customary costs of any necessary testing and treatment, including revision surgery, if needed, in association with the ASR.

Johnson & Johnson have set aside nearly 1 billion dollars and is due to set aside more money to compensate those who have been affected by the defective implants and pay for the recall.

The following provides you with general information about DePuy, the symptoms, causes and general information.

To make a claim or just to talk through your circumstances please phone Aisha Ahmed on 01484 538121.

Patients
Since ASR was launched in 2003, over 10,000 people in the UK have been fitted with ASR, either during hip replacement or hip resurfacing.

In particular, hospitals in West Yorkshire have been found to have used ASR in many hip replacement operations between 2003 and 2010.

Symptoms
The patients who have reported problems in the first 5 years and had revision surgery have mentioned a variety of symptoms. These symptoms have included pain, swelling and problems walking. Such symptoms are normal if you have just had a hip replacement. However, if these symptoms continue or come back, it is a sign that there may be a problem.

Causes
The symptoms above can be caused by problems such as:
• loosening - when the implant does not stay attached to the bone in the correct position;
• fracture - where the bone around the implant may have broken and;
• dislocation - where the two parts of the implants that move against each other are no longer aligned.

Furthermore, the metal components in the product wear over time and generate small particles. In a small number of patients, these particles have caused a reaction, causing fluid to collect in the joint and in the muscles around the joint. As a result, blood tests have had to be undertaken in order to detect any form of poisoning as the reaction may cause pain and swelling around the joint and could damage some of the muscles, bones and nerves around the hip.

Channel 4's Dispatches programme "Under the Knife”, aired on 16 May 2011, highlighted the suffering of the patients who have undergone hip replacement surgeries with the ASR implants. Below is the link:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-90/episode-1

In hip replacement procedures, the hip joint is replaced with an artificial hip joint, which in normal circumstances, lasts between 10 to 20 years.

It has come to light however, that those patients that have had the ASR implanted are experiencing pain and other symptoms leading to a second hip replacement surgery, called a revision surgery. Data has shown that 5 years after implantation, approximately 12% of patients (1 in 8) who had received the ASR resurfacing device and 13% of patients (1 in 8) who had received the ASR total hip replacement, needed to have a revision surgery.

Consequently, DePuy recalled its hip replacement products in August 2010 in order to carry out additional testing and monitoring.

The DePuy ASR XL acetabular system for a total hip replacement and the ASR hip resurfacing system ("ASR”) have been used in more than 93,000 hip replacement surgeries worldwide.

Failure of ASR
Since ASR was launched in 2003, over 10,000 people in the UK have been fitted with ASR, either during hip replacement or hip resurfacing.

The National Joint Registry (NJR), a programme established in 2002 to monitor surgeon and implant performance in relation to hip, knee and ankle replacement services in England and Wales, states that according to its database, ASR was implanted at 108 hospitals across 69 NHS Trusts in 2009 and at 105 hospitals across 61 NHS Trusts in 2008.

Further statistics released by the British Orthopaedic Association show that on average these hips will fail in 49% of cases after just 5 years, compared with an average failure rate of only 2.9% for alternative models.

If you have undergone a hip replacement operation in the last 8 years and have been advised to undergo a revision or are experiencing the aforementioned symptoms or are unsure as to which particular product you have been implanted with, then please do not hesitate to call our designated solicitor for these claims, Miss Aisha Ahmed on 01484 538121 for a no obligation discussion and advice.