DePuy ASR Hip Replacement

About DePuy ASR Hip Replacement

In March 2010, DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, acknowledged that its ASR metal-on-metal hip replacement system, was linked to a high failure rate and that the device would be removed from the market. Many patients have experienced hip failures soon after the device was implanted, leading to an additional expensive and painful hip replacement surgery.

According to a New York Times report, medical experts said that a DePuy ASR cup recall should have been issued earlier, claiming that the failures are linked to a design problem that makes them difficult to implant.  DePuy officials say that ASR hip implant failures are most likely to occur in patients of smaller stature, including women and individuals with weak bones. The FDA has received complaints from about 300 recipients since 2008, most of whom had to undergo another round of hip surgery to replace the defective ASR hip implants.

The ASR is a metal-on-metal hip replacement system. Health care professionals have increasingly been warning about problems with metal-on-metal hip implants, which can shed metal particles into the body. The particles can damage soft tissue, cause inflammatory reactions and lead to bone loss.   Surgeons are warning that one to three percent of all metal on metal hip implant recipients may experience hip implant problems, and possibly need to have the devices replaced, due to metallic debris.

Conditions Caused By DePuy ASR Hip Replacement

Side Effects & Symptoms

Warnings & Recalls

• DePuy initially indicated that the DePuy ASR hip cup was being phased out due to low sales numbers, a letter was sent to doctors on March 6, 2010 warning about a potential risk of ASR hip replacement problems.
• U.K. researchers studied 660 patients who had received metal hip implants from DePuy Orthopaedics and found that 3.4 percent suffered from adverse reactions to metal debris.
• DePuy announced it would phase the devices out by late 2010. However, the hip implants have already been put into thousands of people’s bodies worldwide.

Cases, Settlements, & Verdicts

• Many lawsuits currently underway against DePuy Orthopedics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, allege that the pharmaceutical giant knew of the DePuy hip replacement defects long before the recall of the products began in August 2010.
• DePuy has made recent attempts to get patients to sign over access to their medical records and to give the recalled devices back to the company. Lawyers have advised clients not to do so, as the devices may be treated as evidence in court.

Helpful Information