Thousands of DePuy Hip Replacement Recipients May Not Know About the Recall

DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, recalled 93,000 hip replacements after the National Joint Registry of England and Wales publicized data demonstrating that the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing System fail between 12 and 13 percent of the time within five years of implantation.

DePuy does not keep records of all its recipients, so to inform them, it contacted orthopedists worldwide and told them to contact their patients. Of course, this process assumes that orthopedists know where all their patients live, which they may not. Indeed, many recipients may have moved and not told their orthopedists. People in those circumstances may be completely unaware of the DePuy hip replacement recall.

This is a problem for many reasons. First, people who do not know about the DePuy recall may also not know that their hip replacements are defective. They may feel no symptoms even though they are in grave peril of hip implant failure and poisoning by toxins metal. Second, if they wait too long to consult with a hip replacement lawyer, their case may be barred by the statute of limitations. This is definitely something hip replacement recipients should avoid.

Anyone who has received a DePuy hip implant should contact a hip replacement lawyer with great urgency. More recent data from the British government show that DePuy’s ASR series fails at a higher rate than previously thought—49 percent of the implants fail within 6 years. We can expect a high number of revision procedures to occur because DePuy inadequately designed its products and failed to recall them when it became obvious they were faulty.

If you or one of your relatives received a hip replacement since 2003, find out if it was manufactured and recalled by DePuy.

ArticleSource: ArticlesAlley.com