Failed ASR Hip Implants Affect 430 Australian Patients
Some 430 patients who received the DePuy Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) hip implants in Australia have reportedly experienced device failure and other complications, according to an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald. The DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, in August of 2010 called for a worldwide recall of two of its hip replacement systems, the ASR XL Acetabular System and the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing Platform. Australia, however, was the first country to withdraw the two DePuy hip implants in December 2009 with Europe following suit a year later. Lawsuits followed in the aftermath of the worldwide recall with At least 300 hip replacement lawsuits were filed in Britain.
The 430 patients had required a revision surgery to remove the implants, said the news report. The 430 patients were part of the 5,500 Australians who had been implanted with the apparently defective ASR hip implant devices made by DePuy. As an aid to affected patients, an Australian Senate committee has called for the immediate and better action from the Australian Department of Health and Ageing as well as from the DePuy Orthopaedics with thousands of Australians having received the device.
Among the actions suggested by the Australian committee which conducted an investigation on the DePuy recall is for their health officials to focus on informing doctors, patients and the general public to the DePuy device recall, its adverse effects on patients, and the options for treatment. The health department should also come up with effective ways to monitor the levels of cobalt and chromium in patients using the metal-on-metal hip devices, added the committee. Sometimes, only a blood test would alert the patients that they already have high levels of cobalt and chromium in their blood stream.
DePuy’s ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing System became available in the Australian market in July 2003. Suggestions of a premature failure rate between eight and 11 percent of the DePuy ASR devices were first seen in the data released by the Australian National Joint Registry. The first medical body to release data which showed that the DePuy ASR devices have a premature failure rate between eight and 11 percent was the Australian National Joint Registry. The British Joint Registry collaborated with the findings with its own study results which determined that 12 to 13 percent of DePuy’s ASR devices failed within five years. The worldwide recall of the DePuy hip systems followed the release of the recent study.
Medical experts told the New York Times that the device fails five years after it was first implanted contrary to its supposed lifespan of 15 to 20 years because of the hip implants’ design. DePuy designed a shallower cup and removed the plastic liner from the inside of the implant because it had intended for patients to have a wider range of motion. Instead, complications arise when the friction of the ball portion of the hip implant against the socket wears away cobalt and chromium particles from the device and into the soft tissue around the area. The DePuy hip replacement recall may have been put in place but only after some 93,000 patients have already received the apparently defective device.
References:
smh.com.au/national/health/faulty-hip-implants-senate-inquiry-wants-action-on-ticking-time-bomb-20111122-1nsyc.html#ixzz1eY3Ru9qH
hip-recall-lawyer.com/news/2011/11/28/australian-committee-seeks-better-action-in-helping-depuy-hip-implant-patients/
depuy.com/aupatient
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